Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 4.7% – What’s Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price fell 4.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $168.33 and last traded at $168.97. 6,003,321 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 19,474,070 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.33.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank started coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $171.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,421,948.46. This trade represents a 8.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 184,295 shares of company stock valued at $30,698,791. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.