Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 1.2% – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price traded down 1.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $349.82 and last traded at $350.67. Approximately 10,519,813 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 21,541,119 shares. The stock had previously closed at $355.03.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet was upgraded to a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), signaling improved earnings expectations and potentially supporting the stock near term. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlighted bullish themes ahead of Alphabet’s July 22 earnings, including strong search traffic trends, upbeat analyst commentary, and optimism that AI spending is still driving long-term growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI chip strategy is gaining attention, with articles arguing its custom TPUs and cloud scale could help it take a bigger share of the AI infrastructure market and strengthen its competitive position versus Nvidia and other chip suppliers. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several pieces noted that Alphabet is one of the most closely watched “trending” stocks and a top AI name, which reflects strong investor interest but does not by itself change fundamentals. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are still focused on Alphabet’s large AI and infrastructure spending plans, including expectations for sharply higher capex, which could pressure margins and keep some traders cautious ahead of earnings. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: One article also warned that Alphabet’s long-standing ad dominance faces new threats, adding another source of uncertainty for the core business. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial set a $430.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $445.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $378.53.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The company has a market cap of $4.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $369.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $335.38.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The business’s revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.81 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total value of $153,432.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,345,358.56. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 160,465 shares of company stock valued at $8,020,511. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% in the first quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,508 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,844 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,390,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,223 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $785,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. now owns 1,589 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.