Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 0.7% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price was down 0.7% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $148.20 and last traded at $151.49. Approximately 10,844,220 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 18,931,327 shares. The stock had previously closed at $152.63.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on GOOG. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.65.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $1.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total value of $284,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. The trade was a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 87,297 shares of company stock worth $15,936,270. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $966,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.