Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 0.5% – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares traded down 0.5% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $163.77 and last traded at $164.96. 9,607,910 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 29,458,699 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.87.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $187.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.56.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,182 shares of company stock valued at $18,192,354. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 26,242 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,352,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the period. True Link Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 28.4% in the third quarter. True Link Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,555 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% during the third quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 164,772 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,327,000 after acquiring an additional 3,522 shares during the period. Finally, PBMares Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% during the third quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.