Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 0.3% – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price was down 0.3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $195.19 and last traded at $196.52. Approximately 3,098,957 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 15,741,433 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.07.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $188.64 and its 200-day moving average is $175.20. The stock has a market cap of $2.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total transaction of $234,331.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 26,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,516,745.58. This trade represents a 4.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 122,887 shares of company stock worth $22,470,464. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 32.3% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 344 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is 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.