Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 1.4% – Time to Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price was down 1.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $347.00 and last traded at $347.15. Approximately 22,466,920 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 32,155,088 shares. The stock had previously closed at $351.99.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s new Gemini model updates and reported Frozen v2 AI chip could reduce costs, improve efficiency, and strengthen its AI and cloud margins. Reuters: Google plans new chip to run Gemini models more efficiently
• Positive Sentiment: Investors remain hopeful that Search and Google Cloud growth will show Alphabet can monetize AI while maintaining strong revenue momentum heading into earnings. Invezz: What to expect from Alphabet’s Q2 earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s upcoming Q2 report is expected to be a major test of whether AI infrastructure spending is translating into growth, making the stock especially sensitive to guidance. CNBC: Google expands Gemini lineup
• Negative Sentiment: Concerns persist that the flagship Gemini Pro launch has been delayed, which could signal execution risk in Alphabet’s AI roadmap. Reuters: Alphabet’s Gemini delay, spending worries loom over earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple securities-fraud investigations were announced, creating a legal overhang even though no wrongdoing has been established. PR Newswire: Securities fraud investigation into Alphabet continues

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $455.00 price target (up from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $460.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $414.54.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.4%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $368.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $338.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The company has a market capitalization of $4.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,345,358.56. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 159,415 shares of company stock worth $7,672,279. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Processus Wealth & Capital Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 1.0% in the second quarter. Processus Wealth & Capital Management LLC now owns 20,509 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,329,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. First Community Trust NA grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 18,694 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,681,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. Walker Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Lee Kelleher & Klein Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $302,000. Finally, Buska Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Buska Wealth Management LLC now owns 875 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.