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

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) dropped 0.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $185.33 and last traded at $185.96. Approximately 5,926,579 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 17,484,178 shares. The stock had previously closed at $186.87.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $194.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. This trade represents a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 116,609 shares of company stock worth $21,809,990. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&G PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $2,240,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,642,000 after purchasing an additional 14,738 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,488,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Requisite Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $927,000. 27.26% 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.