Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 0.7%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) dropped 0.7% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $175.58 and last traded at $176.02. Approximately 5,218,833 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 28,719,607 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.24.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush boosted their price target on Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $141.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.26.

Alphabet Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day moving average of $168.53 and a 200-day moving average of $151.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.78, for a total transaction of $3,347,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,310,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $343,710,216.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total value of $266,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,727 shares in the company, valued at $663,107.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.78, for a total value of $3,347,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,310,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $343,710,216.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 158,458 shares of company stock valued at $25,731,103. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. increased its position in Alphabet by 59.2% during the first quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 293 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Capital Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 87.5% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 300 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.