Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 3.6% – What’s Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares fell 3.6% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $158.80 and last traded at $160.61. 9,843,476 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 17,863,879 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.