Insider Selling: Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) CEO Sells 32,500 Shares of Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total transaction of $5,483,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,587,696 shares in the company, valued at $436,570,192.16. This represents a 1.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Sundar Pichai also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, May 21st, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.87, for a total value of $5,553,275.00.
• On Wednesday, May 7th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total value of $5,066,750.00.
• On Wednesday, April 16th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total value of $5,075,200.00.
• On Wednesday, April 2nd, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $169.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 24,834,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,311,810. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $161.29 and a 200-day moving average of $176.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GOOG. Benchmark reaffirmed a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.88.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.