Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 0.3% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was down 0.3% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $192.40 and last traded at $192.96. Approximately 5,644,459 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 19,604,092 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.63.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. DA Davidson raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.5 %

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 fifty day simple moving average is $172.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $172.12. The stock has a market cap of $2.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total value of $3,614,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,114,885 shares in the company, valued at $339,713,977.55. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,183 shares in the company, valued at $4,927,257.72. This trade represents a 4.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 197,123 shares of company stock valued at $34,121,676. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. 1ST Source Bank lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% during the third quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 55,309 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,247,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.0% during the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 26,962 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,508,000 after buying an additional 531 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $962,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $9,181,000. Finally, Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $339,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.