Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 0.4% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGLGet Free Report) traded down 0.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $190.31 and last traded at $193.18. 10,319,378 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 21,472,471 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Loop Capital boosted their price objective 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. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $207.08.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on Alphabet

Alphabet Stock Down 1.0 %

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGLGet Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 155,887 shares of company stock worth $27,996,356. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lantz Financial LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 10.8% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Vance Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vance Wealth Inc. now owns 3,089 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Tobam lifted its position in Alphabet by 64.3% in the second quarter. Tobam now owns 24,833 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,523,000 after buying an additional 9,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avaii Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 21.3% during the second quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,957 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,274,000 after buying an additional 5,077 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

(Get Free Report)

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.

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