Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 0.4% – Time to Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price was down 0.4% on Friday . The company traded as low as $190.31 and last traded at $193.18. Approximately 10,319,378 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 21,472,471 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.95.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $207.08.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.0 %

The company has a 50-day moving average of $182.62 and a 200-day moving average of $173.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $2.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 155,887 shares of company stock valued at $27,996,356 over the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Graypoint LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 64,918 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,607 shares in the last quarter. Lynch & Associates IN grew its position in Alphabet by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Lynch & Associates IN now owns 31,272 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,920,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the period. Atlas Brown Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 12,229 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,315,000 after buying an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,155 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,276,000 after acquiring an additional 5,602 shares during the period. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,729,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.