Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 0.2% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price was down 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $168.02 and last traded at $168.79. Approximately 3,579,414 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 27,147,719 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $168.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. The trade was a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at $4,421,948.46. The trade was a 8.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 70.6% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,230 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,279,000 after buying an additional 41,880 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 31,171 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $382,000. Leelyn Smith LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 209.8% during the first quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 37,995 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,735,000 after purchasing an additional 25,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $4,635,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% 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.