Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 1.9% – What’s Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) fell 1.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $173.79 and last traded at $174.02. 5,164,306 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 19,508,557 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GOOG. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.4 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $171.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at $5,136,807.48. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total transaction of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. The trade was a 35.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,471,141. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.