Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 7.8% – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price fell 7.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $189.91 and last traded at $191.46. 20,364,205 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 21% from the average session volume of 16,896,764 shares. The stock had previously closed at $207.71.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank raised their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $192.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 540,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $102,855,000 after buying an additional 14,375 shares during the period. Saturna Capital Corp purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $273,000. Summit X LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Summit X LLC now owns 11,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,204,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 66,889 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,738,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,886 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.