Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 1.1% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) traded down 1.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $316.79 and last traded at $319.95. 51,049,103 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 39% from the average session volume of 36,829,996 shares. The stock had previously closed at $323.44.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 target price on the stock. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $333.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. China Renaissance lifted their target price on Alphabet from $207.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Citic Securities upped their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.84.

Alphabet Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $267.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $217.64. The company has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 36.08% and a net margin of 32.23%. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total transaction of $694,638.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 14,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,629,725.80. This trade represents a 16.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 225,072 shares of company stock valued at $58,074,027 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 65.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 25,435 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,183,000 after acquiring an additional 10,041 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 81.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 587 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth $445,000. LWM Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.3% in the third quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,426 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 321.9% during the third quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,146 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,980,000 after buying an additional 6,215 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.