Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 1.1% – Time to Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) dropped 1.1% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $181.83 and last traded at $183.25. Approximately 6,329,496 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 27,532,350 shares. The stock had previously closed at $185.32.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.62.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $192.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $2.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares in the company, valued at $364,259,266.02. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 8,130,382 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,576,887,000 after buying an additional 390,206 shares during the period. Joseph Group Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 26,992 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,110,000 after acquiring an additional 4,681 shares during the period. IPG Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,114 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,404,000 after acquiring an additional 3,030 shares in the last quarter. SCP Investment LP boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 66.7% in the 4th quarter. SCP Investment LP now owns 87,500 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $16,564,000 after buying an additional 35,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 213,766 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,466,000 after acquiring an additional 5,542 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.