Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 1.3% – Time to Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price was down 1.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $177.88 and last traded at $178.18. Approximately 3,744,915 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 19,509,297 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.49.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on GOOG shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank began coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research upped their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50 day moving average is $166.20 and its 200 day moving average is $171.57.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total transaction of $1,862,805.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 319,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,765,168.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total value of $1,862,805.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 319,966 shares in the company, valued at $56,765,168.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total value of $3,990,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,084,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,672,512.16. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 207,495 shares of company stock worth $34,586,641. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. M&G PLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $2,240,000. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.4% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,488,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 63,545 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,624,000 after buying an additional 5,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 11,366 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. 27.26% 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.