Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 0.7% – What’s Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price traded down 0.7% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $171.03 and last traded at $173.49. 7,066,335 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 17,635,977 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.70.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $192.17 and its 200-day moving average is $177.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued 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 0.46%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 134,309 shares of company stock worth $25,057,490. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% 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.