Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 0.6% – Time to Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares were down 0.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $167.16 and last traded at $168.26. Approximately 3,923,660 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 27,113,102 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.23.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price target on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven 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. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.90.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.33.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at $5,136,807.48. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 70.6% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,230 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,279,000 after acquiring an additional 41,880 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 31,171 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares in the last quarter. Tyro Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $8,026,000. Tremblant Capital Group boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 76.1% during the 1st quarter. Tremblant Capital Group now owns 9,415 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after buying an additional 4,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% during the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 533,158 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $80,470,000 after buying an additional 45,361 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.