Alphabet Inc. (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 dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.2 %

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $147.74 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $177.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.43. The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $147.54 and a 52 week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $166,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Stansberry Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stansberry Asset Management LLC now owns 1,557 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $133,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.65.

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.