Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 1.3% – Time to Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) dropped 1.3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $178.78 and last traded at $179.28. Approximately 5,745,966 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 27,021,248 shares. The stock had previously closed at $181.62.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $164.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.04. The firm has a market cap of $2.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total transaction of $3,772,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,159,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,126,319.10. This trade represents a 1.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,471,141. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 70.6% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,230 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,279,000 after purchasing an additional 41,880 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 31,171 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,705,000 after buying an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. Broderick Brian C boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Broderick Brian C now owns 145,663 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $21,985,000 after buying an additional 13,465 shares during the period. Cohen Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Cohen Capital Management Inc. now owns 69,502 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,490,000 after buying an additional 1,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 352,348 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,180,000 after acquiring an additional 15,482 shares during the period. 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.