Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Reaches New 1-Year Low After Insider Selling

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Saturday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $147.54 and last traded at $147.74, with a volume of 39777547 shares. The stock had previously closed at $152.63.

Specifically, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.65.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.2 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $177.04 and its 200 day moving average is $178.30. The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.