Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) CEO Sundar Pichai Sells 32,500 Shares

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.80, for a total transaction of $9,743,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,239,619 shares in the company, valued at $671,437,776.20. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

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

• On Wednesday, December 3rd, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.50, for a total transaction of $10,383,750.00.
• On Wednesday, November 19th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.64, for a total transaction of $9,640,800.00.
• On Wednesday, November 5th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total transaction of $9,213,100.00.
• On Wednesday, October 15th, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total value of $8,129,875.00.
• On Wednesday, October 1st, Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.41, for a total transaction of $7,910,825.00.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $298.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.60 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $287.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.11. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $328.67.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Alphabet from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $313.04.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. RDA Financial Network raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 11,094 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,968,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 1.4% in the second quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 170,020 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,304 shares during the period. American National Bank of Texas acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $900,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Alphabet by 3.7% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,164,341 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $206,542,000 after purchasing an additional 42,028 shares during the period. Finally, Oldfather Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $213,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.