Insider Selling: Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Major Shareholder Sells 87,475 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Alphabet major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares on May 15 at an average price of $23.75, for total proceeds of about $2.08 million. The filing notes the insider had also sold 60,077 shares the previous day.
• GOOG traded slightly lower, falling 0.1% to $393.11 in midday trading, while still hovering near its 52-week high of $404.47. The company now has a market cap of $4.76 trillion.
• Alphabet’s fundamentals remain strong, with the latest quarterly results beating expectations on both earnings and revenue. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company's stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, May 14th, 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 60,077 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.01, for a total value of $1,382,371.77.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.1%

GOOG stock traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $393.11. 18,511,620 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,695,926. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $327.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $317.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The company has a market cap of $4.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.25. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $163.33 and a one year high of $404.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.81 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $132,114,125,000 after acquiring an additional 8,128,234 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 187,102,863 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $58,712,878,000 after acquiring an additional 953,790 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its holdings in Alphabet by 38,409.2% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,643,262,000 after acquiring an additional 179,369,280 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its holdings in Alphabet by 28,482.8% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $35,174,429,000 after acquiring an additional 111,699,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,602,893 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $31,569,189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073,151 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Phillip Securities lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. KeyCorp set a $370.00 price target on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Pivotal Research restated a "buy" rating and issued a $470.00 price target (up from $420.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $363.40.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway significantly increased its Alphabet stake, a high-profile vote of confidence that has helped support sentiment around GOOG. Berkshire Hathaway doubles down on GOOG stock while dumping AMZN. You probably shouldn’t
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America expects Google I/O to showcase major AI advancements across Alphabet’s core products, which could further strengthen the company’s competitive position in AI. Google I/O preview: Bank of America expects major AI push across Search, Chrome, and Android
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s latest quarterly results were strong, with revenue and earnings beating expectations and cloud growth remaining a key driver of the bull case. Alphabet: The $462B Backlog Crushed The Bear Case, But At 30x P/E I'm Trimming To Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple investors and analysts remain constructive on Alphabet despite the stock’s big run, citing AI demand, cloud momentum, and potential upside from new product announcements. Some Very Smart Money Can't Agree On What to Do With Alphabet's Soaring Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Some hedge funds and notable investors trimmed Alphabet positions in recent filings, showing that not all large holders agree on how much upside remains after the rally.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc NASDAQ: GOOG is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as "Other Bets." Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company's history.

Alphabet's core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company's ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.

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