Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 0.3% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price fell 0.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $190.89 and last traded at $191.44. 6,793,521 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 27,318,568 shares. The stock had previously closed at $191.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. China Renaissance upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.08.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $171.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.60. The stock has a market cap of $2.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total transaction of $230,804.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. The trade was a 4.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 197,123 shares of company stock valued at $34,121,676. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.5% in the third quarter. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,625 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,431,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS increased its holdings in Alphabet by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 47,077 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,808,000 after buying an additional 5,091 shares during the period. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 11,063 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,835,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 8.7% during the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 17,621 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,922,000 after acquiring an additional 1,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,936 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,146,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.