Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 0.3% – What’s Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price fell 0.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $180.99 and last traded at $181.38. 3,539,565 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 19,558,510 shares. The stock had previously closed at $181.97.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.7 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $166.20 and a 200 day moving average of $171.57. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.63, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,136,807.48. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total transaction of $1,862,805.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 319,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,765,168.06. This represents a 3.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 207,495 shares of company stock valued at $34,586,641 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 360.1% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,249 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,083,000 after purchasing an additional 15,848 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 5.8% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 32,706 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,980,000 after acquiring an additional 1,798 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 19.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 86,040 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,100,000 after acquiring an additional 13,756 shares during the period. Elite Life Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Elite Life Management LLC now owns 4,015 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Landaas & Co. WI ADV purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $211,000. 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.