Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 1.9% – Time to Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price fell 1.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $152.21 and last traded at $153.13. 8,457,888 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 18,834,959 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.06.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.65.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

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, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 88,665 shares of company stock worth $16,198,310. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $5,166,070,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after buying an additional 7,917,625 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,376,066,000 after buying an additional 7,221,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,376,706,000 after acquiring an additional 5,758,244 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.