Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 0.6%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price traded down 0.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $153.96 and last traded at $155.13. 8,154,625 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 29,795,414 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $144.00 to $141.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on Alphabet from $174.00 to $172.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.41.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.75, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $146.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $140.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,009,032.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,009,032.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total value of $3,291,525.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.