Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 0.5% – Should You Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares dropped 0.5% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $192.38 and last traded at $194.47. Approximately 9,317,002 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 20,685,873 shares. The stock had previously closed at $195.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp upped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.82.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.3 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $181.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $172.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 155,887 shares of company stock valued at $27,996,356. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Schear Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during the third quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 33,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,598,000 after buying an additional 4,905 shares during the period. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 25,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,516 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 6,305,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,037,196,000 after buying an additional 611,233 shares during the period. Finally, StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% in the third quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,509 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,567,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% 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.