Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 0.3% – Should You Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price fell 0.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $190.49 and last traded at $192.71. 8,495,869 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 17,521,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.30.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $193.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.18. The company has a market capitalization of $2.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. M&G PLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $2,240,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 14,738 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted 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 worth $50,488,000 after acquiring an additional 4,292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Requisite Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $927,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.