Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 1% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) dropped 1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $190.36 and last traded at $192.10. Approximately 3,370,978 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 19,691,531 shares. The stock had previously closed at $194.04.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Pivotal Research raised their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.2 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $180.20 and a 200 day moving average of $173.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.26, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total value of $3,741,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,106,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $350,361,837.80. This represents a 1.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 137,588 shares of company stock valued at $24,473,081. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.