Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 1.9% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares were down 1.9% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $173.79 and last traded at $174.02. Approximately 5,164,306 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 19,508,557 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.35.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Price 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $167.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.65. The stock has a market cap of $2.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.06, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,471,141. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,378,708,000. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Alphabet by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,355,724,000 after acquiring an additional 7,470,042 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 5,655,022 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 3,113,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 65.9% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 2,500,621 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.