Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 1.3% – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) dropped 1.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $178.78 and last traded at $179.28. Approximately 5,745,966 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 27,021,248 shares. The stock had previously closed at $181.62.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their price objective on Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business’s fifty day moving average is $164.82 and its 200 day moving average is $170.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This represents a 2.09 % 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 $34,471,141 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $16,841,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 31.3% during the third quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 19,167 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,179,000 after buying an additional 4,567 shares in the last quarter. Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,774 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,440,000 after buying an additional 4,182 shares during the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $589,000. Finally, Lavaca Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 219.9% in the 3rd quarter. Lavaca Capital LLC now owns 14,547 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,413,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% 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.