Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 1.3% – What’s Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price was down 1.3% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $177.88 and last traded at $178.18. Approximately 3,744,915 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 19,509,297 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50-day moving average is $167.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given 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 is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total value of $1,862,805.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 319,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,765,168.06. The trade was a 3.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total transaction of $3,990,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,084,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,672,512.16. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,471,141 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 360.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 15,848 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 32,706 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,980,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 19.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 86,040 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,100,000 after buying an additional 13,756 shares during the period. Fiducient Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 10.1% during the first quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC now owns 7,240 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,102,000 after buying an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, South Street Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. South Street Advisors LLC now owns 4,890 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $745,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.