Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 2.2% – Time to Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares dropped 2.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $173.78 and last traded at $174.27. Approximately 4,344,129 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 26,996,641 shares. The stock had previously closed at $178.12.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research upped their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.90.

Alphabet Price Performance

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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a fifty day moving average of $167.50 and a 200-day moving average of $170.38.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total transaction of $3,975,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at $6,307,206.90. This represents a 35.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. New Hampshire Trust increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 43,714 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 4.5% during the third quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc lifted its position in Alphabet by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 6,305,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,037,196,000 after buying an additional 611,233 shares in the last quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,509 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,567,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, EWG Elevate Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. EWG Elevate Inc. now owns 1,305 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $216,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% 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.