Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 0.5% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares were down 0.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $191.60 and last traded at $194.40. Approximately 5,801,970 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 14,335,881 shares. The stock had previously closed at $195.39.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.62, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $184.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio 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 on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total value of $473,929.82. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total transaction of $247,425.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,324 shares in the company, valued at $4,342,143.80. This trade represents a 5.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 155,887 shares of company stock worth $27,996,356 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Sunburst Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.1% in the third quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC now owns 2,959 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Johnson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 8,323 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% during the third quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 2.3% during the third quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,674 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is 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.