Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 0.3% – Time to Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price dropped 0.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $193.43 and last traded at $194.75. Approximately 5,192,519 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 23,916,639 shares. The stock had previously closed at $195.30.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. DA Davidson increased their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.82.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.98. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $188.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 121,630 shares of company stock valued at $22,258,133 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Americana Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 151,408 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,662,000 after purchasing an additional 43,920 shares during the last quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC now owns 1,638 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP grew its holdings in Alphabet by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 3,392 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $642,000 after buying an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 832,818 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $157,652,000 after buying an additional 13,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 112,992 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $21,389,000 after buying an additional 7,672 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.