Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 0.5% – Time to Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares fell 0.5% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $191.60 and last traded at $194.40. 5,801,970 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 14,335,881 shares. The stock had previously closed at $195.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

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 company has a market capitalization of $2.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $183.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.52.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total transaction of $473,929.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at $4,406,343.27. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total value of $247,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,324 shares in the company, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 155,887 shares of company stock worth $27,996,356. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 87.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by 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.