Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 0.1% – What’s Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price dropped 0.1% on Monday . The company traded as low as $191.63 and last traded at $192.76. Approximately 4,058,288 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 19,830,713 shares. The stock had previously closed at $192.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.8 %

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $177.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 43,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. The trade was a 27.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total transaction of $247,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,342,143.80. This represents a 5.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 178,257 shares of company stock valued at $31,243,187 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,193,768,000 after purchasing an additional 5,655,022 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 10.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,573,125,000 after buying an additional 3,113,395 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 65.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,294,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,052,349,000 after buying an additional 2,500,621 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Alphabet by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,499,245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,375,512,000 after buying an additional 1,632,691 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in Alphabet by 182.1% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,526,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $422,331,000 after buying an additional 1,630,701 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% 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.