Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 0.7% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares were down 0.7% on Monday . The company traded as low as $164.35 and last traded at $164.34. Approximately 6,031,284 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 29,652,797 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush increased their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. DZ Bank cut Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.03.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $184.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.56. The company has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.96, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 728,575 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $120,834,000 after purchasing an additional 46,677 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp now owns 420,235 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $69,695,000 after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 28,263 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,687,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 760,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $126,073,000 after purchasing an additional 24,147 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.