Google stock split history: what you need to understand

The Google stock split was controversial by lots of investors' standards. Here, we explain what the Google stock split was, how it affected share rates and whether there will be another one in the future.

Google stock split history

The first thing to think about when looking at Google's stock split history, is that the company has two categories of publicly-traded stock. GOOGL shares are otherwise known as class A, and GOOG shares are otherwise called class C.

Class A shares were the only ones which were publicly available until 3 April 2014, when Google issued a stock split to produce the class C shares. The table listed below provides info about the results of the split of class A stock to produce the class C stock.

Google class A stock (GOOGL) divides

The split was to guarantee that the founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, kept overall ballot control of the company, while likewise minimizing Google's then share price by half. This was achieved by creating the new class C stock, which does not carry any voting rights at investor meetings.

This was controversial at the time due to the fact that instead of simply releasing fresh stock, Google developed a new classification of stock with reduced voting advantages. Nevertheless, other companies such as Facebook (FB), Snap Inc. (SNAP) and Under Armour (UA) have since seen the advantages of maintaining ballot rights on top level of business governance.

Another split happened on 27 April 2015, and it only applied to class C stock. Instead of a stock split in the traditional sense, it was a kind of compensation which granted 2.7455 shares for each 1000 currently owned by an investor. This was done on the assumption that class C stock would trade at a discount to class A due to its lack of voting power, which is discussed in greater information later on in this article. 

Google class C stock (GOOG) splits

Aside from class A and C shares, there are likewise Google class B shares which are owned by a handful of directors and the two creators. Class B shares have ten-times the ballot power of class A stock and owners of class B shares likewise received one class C share for each class B share they held at the time of the first split on 3 April 2014.

Google stock split example

For an example of the Google stock split on 3 April 2014, let's assume that a trader owned 1000 Google shares prior to the split. After the split, they would now own 1000 shares of Google class A, in addition to 998 shares of Google class C, because the split was 1998/1000.

As of 31 January 2019, there were 299,360,029 shares of class A stock outstanding, 46,535,019 shares of class B stock outstanding and 349,291,348 class C shares impressive.1.

Despite the relatively low variety of class B shares in blood circulation, these shares have 465,350,190 votes thanks to their ten-times voting power. This is a substantial increase on the publicly-available class A stocks, which only carry 299,360,029 votes.

Google stock classes: what do they mean?

There are presently 3 classes of Google stock: A, B and C. Each of these different classes is discussed in higher information listed below.

Google stock class A 

Google class A (GOOGL) shares have consistently traded at a premium compared to their class C equivalents. This is since the market designates a value to the ballot power that an investor will get if they buy class A stock.

The premium is normally between 1% -5%, for class A, however the two classifications of publicly-traded Google stocks generally move in close tandem.

For example, in between January 2018 and January 2019, the closing rate of class A stock varied from $984.66 per share to $1285.50 per share. In contrast, the closing price of Google class C stock ranged from $976.21 to $1268.32 per share.

While they do not grant as much voting power as class B shares, owning class A shares is the only way that a typical investor or a Google outsider will be able to vote on decisions at stockholder conferences.

Google stock class B

Class B shares are held by experts, directors and the founders at Alphabet and Google. The majority of this category of Google stock is owned by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, with a smaller sized amount being held by former Google ceo (CEO) Eric E. Schmidt, independent director L. John Doerr and senior vice-president and chief legal officer David C. Drummond.

Many argue that investing in Alphabet, just like with many Silicon Valley companies, is an investment in the leadership and the creators more than anything. As a result, by keeping bulk ballot control of their business, Page and Brin ensure that investor confidence in their company remains high, so long as they both stay at the helm.

Google stock class C

Google class C (GOOGL) were produced following the very first stock split in April 2014, and ownership of these shares give no ballot advantages at investor conferences. Google stock class C trades at a slight discount rate to its class An equivalent, however the two costs typically relocate connection.

Given that its development, Google stock class C has been 'split' as soon as. As formerly pointed out, this was not a stock split in the standard sense. Rather, it was a type of compensating financiers in class C shares on the assumption that they would trade at a small discount rate to class A shares.

This payment, in the form of 2.7455 shares for each 1000 class C shares that an investor held, was given if the stock cost of class C and A varied by more than 1% in the first year. Since this very first year, class C investors have not been compensated for any variances in price.

The production of class C shares likewise allowed Google to offer stock rewards to employees and executive officers, and earnings raised by offering the shares has facilitated acquisitions without requiring Page or Brin to give up bulk control of their business.

Will Google stock split again?

Lots of financiers are presently hypothesizing over whether Google will equip split once again. For one, the present share price makes the stocks inaccessible to particular financiers, particularly those who trade part-time or do not have a lot of capital.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin have stated, however, that they aren't worried by this and that they prefer their financiers to have a long-lasting interest in Google's vision rather than those investors and traders looking for to make a fast profit from Google stock.

Considering That Page and Brin hold a bulk of the ballot share in between them, any future stock split or increase in voting power for shareholders will need to be approved by both of the creators in order for it to pass through the board. If their previous ballot record is anything to go on, this seems not likely at present.

Disclaimer: for the function of this post, since all divides took place before the formation of Alphabet Inc., we have described the stock divides as 'Google' stock splits, rather than stock splits of Alphabet.