Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 0.2% – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price was down 0.2% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $172.60 and last traded at $173.86. Approximately 4,742,038 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 18,547,594 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $190.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

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 that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $4,085,531.55. This trade represents a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,316 shares of company stock valued at $25,062,887 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,394,181,000 after buying an additional 51,226 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.0% during the third quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 23,853 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,988,000 after buying an additional 1,348 shares during the period. Northstar Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 20.9% during the third quarter. Northstar Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,526 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $924,000 after buying an additional 956 shares during the period. One Plus One Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 8.4% during the third quarter. One Plus One Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Finally, Leslie Global Wealth LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 31.9% during the third quarter. Leslie Global Wealth LLC now owns 2,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Alphabet

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.