Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 1.9% – Time to Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares traded down 1.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $152.21 and last traded at $153.13. 8,457,888 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 18,834,959 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.06.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank raised their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.56.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.35, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $181.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.69.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 87,992 shares of company stock worth $16,097,111. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $966,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.