Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 2% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) fell 2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $190.68 and last traded at $191.68. 5,436,322 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 27,497,410 shares. The stock had previously closed at $195.60.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four 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 $206.69.

Alphabet Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $177.62 and its 200-day moving average is $172.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted 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 net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.07, for a total value of $3,759,075.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,129,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $355,743,153.42. This represents a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly 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. Insiders have sold 161,455 shares of company stock worth $28,462,960 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Alphabet by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. IMS Capital Management lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 13,708 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,274,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,625 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,431,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS increased its position in Alphabet by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 47,077 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,808,000 after acquiring an additional 5,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.4% in the third quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 11,063 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,835,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% 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.