Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 0.8% – What’s Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price was down 0.8% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $192.38 and last traded at $193.95. Approximately 24,842,898 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 4% from the average daily volume of 23,971,379 shares. The stock had previously closed at $195.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $207.08.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $2.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.10. 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:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total value of $473,929.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 26,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,406,343.27. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total transaction of $247,425.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 26,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,342,143.80. This represents a 5.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 155,887 shares of company stock valued at $27,996,356 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 10.8% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $842,000 after buying an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Vance Wealth Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vance Wealth Inc. now owns 3,089 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Tobam boosted its stake in Alphabet by 64.3% in the 2nd quarter. Tobam now owns 24,833 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,523,000 after purchasing an additional 9,718 shares during the period. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 8,747 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% 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.