Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 0.7%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price traded down 0.7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $170.52 and last traded at $171.70. 3,657,759 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 22,516,775 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.98.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.67.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $153.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.38. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total value of $3,753,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,280,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $380,389,234.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $369,096.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The sale 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 on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total value of $3,753,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,280,511 shares in the company, valued at $380,389,234.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 252,629 shares of company stock worth $37,091,240 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kennedy Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.0% in the third quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 26,519 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,496,000 after buying an additional 1,260 shares during the last quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 40.8% during the third quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management now owns 3,177 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares during the period. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,722 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,391,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 26,187 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,453,000 after buying an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 73,781 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,728,000 after acquiring an additional 861 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.