Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 0.8% – Should You Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares were down 0.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $192.38 and last traded at $193.95. Approximately 24,842,898 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 4% from the average daily volume of 23,971,379 shares. The stock had previously closed at $195.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Nine research 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $207.08.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $182.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.10. The firm has a market cap of $2.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders 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%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total transaction of $473,929.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,406,343.27. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 155,887 shares of company stock worth $27,996,356 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.8% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $842,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $218,000. Vance Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vance Wealth Inc. now owns 3,089 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Tobam grew its position in Alphabet by 64.3% in the second quarter. Tobam now owns 24,833 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,523,000 after acquiring an additional 9,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the second quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 8,747 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.