Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 0.7% – What’s Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price was down 0.7% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $166.48 and last traded at $166.48. Approximately 3,639,983 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 18,767,873 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.62.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.3 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.