Insider Selling: Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Director Sells 18,566 Shares of Stock

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Kavitark Ram Shriram also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, July 18th, Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00.
• On Thursday, May 22nd, Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,575,000.00.
• On Thursday, May 22nd, Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $5.21 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $191.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 24,552,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,599,443. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $174.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. 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 firm earned $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.40.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. ACT Advisors LLC. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. ACT Advisors LLC. now owns 1,625 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. LongView Wealth Management raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 5,126 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $909,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Kooman & Associates raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 4,127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 17,328 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,300,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 593 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.

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