Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 0.1% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) were down 0.1% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $190.15 and last traded at $191.21. Approximately 5,637,709 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 27,635,021 shares. The stock had previously closed at $191.41.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. China Renaissance upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial upped 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. DA Davidson began coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.69.

Alphabet Stock Performance

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’s 50-day simple moving average is $174.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $171.32. The stock has a market cap of $2.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.07, for a total transaction of $3,759,075.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,129,306 shares in the company, valued at $355,743,153.42. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total transaction of $2,780,226.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. This represents a 27.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 178,257 shares of company stock worth $31,243,187 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is 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.