Alphabet shares opened at $305.46 on Wednesday after a run of insider sales and a fresh batch of fourth-quarter filings showed mixed moves among institutional investors. Nikulski Financial Inc. cut its Alphabet stake by 5.5% in the period, while several other firms added to their positions.
Nikulski ended the quarter with 57,788 shares worth $18,088,000 after selling 3,378 shares. Alphabet made up 4.3% of the firm’s portfolio and remained its second-biggest holding. Santori & Peters Inc. lifted its position by 10.3% to 1,339 shares valued at $419,000, while Meyer Handelman Co. increased its stake by 0.4% to 117,700 shares worth $36,840,000. Westmount Partners LLC raised its holdings by 15.4% to 28,644 shares worth $8,966,000, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake by 1.7% to 229,711 shares worth $71,900,000, and Guided Capital Wealth Management LLC grew its position by 26.1% to 8,090 shares valued at $2,532,000.
The buying in the quarter came as insiders were trimming. Sundar Pichai, Alphabet’s CEO, sold 32,500 shares on Wednesday, January 21st at an average price of $327.30 for total proceeds of $10,637,250.00. After that trade, he directly owned 2,211,872 shares valued at $723,945,705.60, a 1.45% decrease in his position. Major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares on Friday, January 30th at $19.00 apiece for $35,060,852.00. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,069,344 shares worth $104,708,426, and they still hold 11.55% of Alphabet stock.
Alphabet’s latest trading data shows the stock near its 50-day moving average of $308.04 and above its 200-day moving average of $297.62, with a 12-month range from $143.03 to $349.00. The company reported a current ratio and quick ratio of 2.01, a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11 and a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion. The split between institutional buying and insider selling leaves Google stock under close watch, but the filings show investors are still treating it as a core holding rather than a trade.
