Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 0.5% – What’s Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price fell 0.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $192.38 and last traded at $194.47. 9,317,002 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 20,685,873 shares. The stock had previously closed at $195.49.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.82.

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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $181.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $172.72. The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for 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 business posted $1.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,531.55. This trade represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 155,887 shares of company stock worth $27,996,356. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $66,000. 40.03% 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.