Insider Selling: Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) CEO Sells 32,500 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet, sold 32,500 shares of stock at an average price of $199.92, totaling approximately $6.5 million, which represents a 1.30% decrease in his ownership.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, to be paid on September 15, indicating an annualized yield of 0.4%.
• Analysts are optimistic about Alphabet's stock, with targets raised by firms like Wedbush to $225, and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $211.53.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total value of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

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

• On Wednesday, August 6th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total value of $6,377,475.00.
• On Wednesday, July 16th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total value of $5,992,350.00.
• On Wednesday, July 2nd, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00.
• On Wednesday, June 18th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.68, for a total value of $5,742,100.00.
• On Wednesday, June 4th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total value of $5,483,075.00.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $199.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,647,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,974,156. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $185.70 and a 200-day moving average of $173.38. The stock has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Beddow Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Gimbal Financial raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Gimbal Financial now owns 2,776 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 16,916 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,981,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC now owns 4,317 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $761,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Berkeley Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. North Berkeley Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,200 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOOGL. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wedbush increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Westpark Capital increased their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.53.

Alphabet Company Profile

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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