Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 3% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price traded down 3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $186.89 and last traded at $187.58. 11,145,168 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 37% from the average session volume of 17,768,354 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays upped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $192.78 and its 200-day moving average is $176.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the transaction, the director now owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 287.9% in the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.