Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 0.3% – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares traded down 0.3% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $195.19 and last traded at $196.52. 3,098,957 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 15,741,433 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.07.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued 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 target price of $206.69.

Alphabet Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $189.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.54. The company has a market cap of $2.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 121,630 shares of company stock valued at $22,258,133 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 266 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.