Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 0.5% – Time to Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price traded down 0.5% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $186.18 and last traded at $187.01. 3,878,178 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 17,561,160 shares. The stock had previously closed at $187.88.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Pivotal Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.5 %

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $194.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total transaction of $3,975,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.