Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 3.2%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price was down 3.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $157.71 and last traded at $158.84. Approximately 13,179,152 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 28,043,992 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.16.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Loop Capital restated a “hold” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.74.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.36, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $176.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $162.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.03, for a total value of $130,424.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,024 shares in the company, valued at $4,894,812.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.03, for a total value of $130,424.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,894,812.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total value of $3,652,875.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,182,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $354,310,204.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 99,108 shares of company stock worth $17,365,854 over the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its position in Alphabet by 55.4% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 214,443 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,956,000 after purchasing an additional 76,410 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley grew its position in Alphabet by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 15,006 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,096,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $787,000. CKW Financial Group raised its holdings in Alphabet by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 13,830 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,150,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,700 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 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.