Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 0.5% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) traded down 0.5% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $165.73 and last traded at $166.89. 5,551,377 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 18,763,887 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.81.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock 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 stock has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.74, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $189.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.09.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 97,182 shares of company stock valued at $18,192,354 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.