Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 0.1% – What’s Next?

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) fell 0.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $191.92 and last traded at $192.57. 2,907,613 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 19,660,785 shares. The stock had previously closed at $192.69.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on GOOG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total transaction of $473,929.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at $4,406,343.27. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.07, for a total value of $3,759,075.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,129,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $355,743,153.42. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 160,088 shares of company stock valued at $28,232,156 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. M&G PLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,240,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 14.4% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,642,000 after purchasing an additional 14,738 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings 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 last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 172.9% in the third quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,254,000 after purchasing an additional 57,810 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 63,545 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,624,000 after acquiring an additional 5,892 shares during the last quarter. 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.