Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 1.3% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) traded down 1.3% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $356.88 and last traded at $357.75. 24,979,063 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 32,585,701 shares. The stock had previously closed at $362.43.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud revenue reportedly increased 82% in the second quarter, with backlog reaching $514 billion, while the Gemini app reached approximately 950 million monthly active users. The results reinforce the commercial demand supporting Alphabet’s AI and cloud investments. Google’s AI business is booming, so why are DeepMind’s biggest names quitting?
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to highlight Alphabet’s strong cash generation, balance sheet and valuation relative to its growth prospects. Some market models see the shares reaching $400 as Cloud momentum and AI monetization continue. Price Prediction: Google Will Hit $400 on This Date
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s expanded Google Cloud partnership with AI lab Mirendil, reportedly worth more than $100 million over multiple years, provides another example of demand for its computing infrastructure. Mirendil Google Cloud deal

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of several analyst reports. New Street Research boosted their target price on Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Mizuho raised their price target on Alphabet from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Dbs Bank increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $419.86.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0%

The firm has a market cap of $4.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 17.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $355.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $340.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.07 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 7th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 4.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the sale, the insider owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 600,547 shares of company stock worth $16,255,540. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.