Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 1.3% – Should You Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGGet Free Report) shares were down 1.3% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $177.88 and last traded at $178.18. Approximately 3,744,915 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 19,509,297 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Pivotal Research upped their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on GOOG

Alphabet Price Performance

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’s fifty day moving average is $166.20 and its 200-day moving average is $171.57. The stock has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. 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 0.45%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total transaction of $3,442,233.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at $6,307,206.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total transaction of $3,772,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,159,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,126,319.10. The trade was a 0.00 % 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, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total transaction of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 207,495 shares of company stock valued at $34,586,641. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,193,768,000 after buying an additional 5,655,022 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Alphabet by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,355,724,000 after buying an additional 7,470,042 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 84,171,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,815,986,000 after acquiring an additional 13,876,534 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 45,731,826 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,963,128,000 after acquiring an additional 979,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.0% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 35,558,778 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,414,179,000 after purchasing an additional 684,968 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Alphabet

(Get Free Report)

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.

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