Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 1.1% – Should You Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price was down 1.1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $181.83 and last traded at $183.25. Approximately 6,329,496 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 27,532,350 shares. The stock had previously closed at $185.32.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.62.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $192.18 and a 200-day moving average of $174.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business 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 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,529,987.28. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 8,130,382 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,576,887,000 after buying an additional 390,206 shares in the last quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management lifted its stake in Alphabet by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 26,992 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,110,000 after purchasing an additional 4,681 shares during the last quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,114 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,404,000 after acquiring an additional 3,030 shares in the last quarter. SCP Investment LP raised its position in Alphabet by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. SCP Investment LP now owns 87,500 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $16,564,000 after buying an additional 35,000 shares during the period. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 213,766 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,466,000 after purchasing an additional 5,542 shares in the last quarter. 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.