Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 0.6% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price fell 0.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $167.16 and last traded at $168.26. 3,923,660 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 27,113,102 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.23.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $168.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.33. The company has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.03.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total transaction of $3,570,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,137,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,160,251.80. The trade was a 1.04 % 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 Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at $59,741,643.48. The trade was a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.8% during the second quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 1,655 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Cutler Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,663 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Alphabet

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.