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

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares 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 shares were sold at an average price of $23.01, for a total transaction of $1,382,371.77.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $393.11. The stock had a trading volume of 18,511,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,695,926. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $327.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $317.31. The firm has a market cap of $4.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.99, a P/E/G 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) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This is a positive change 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 currently 6.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. KeyCorp set a $370.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Alphabet from $375.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $363.40.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 38,409.2% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,643,262,000 after purchasing an additional 179,369,280 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its position 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 buying an additional 111,699,704 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $18,093,665,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its position in Alphabet by 850.3% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 17,692,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,551,938,000 after buying an additional 15,830,754 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 buying an additional 8,128,234 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

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.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.