Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 5% – Time to Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price traded down 5% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $163.79 and last traded at $165.04. 13,907,163 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 29,192,580 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.66.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.62.

Alphabet Stock Down 4.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $188.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.54. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 134,316 shares of company stock valued at $25,062,887. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% 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.