Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 1.8% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price dropped 1.8% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $313.89 and last traded at $314.4860. Approximately 39,121,719 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 6% from the average daily volume of 36,794,258 shares. The stock had previously closed at $320.18.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Alphabet from $265.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, New Street Research boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $275.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $308.73.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.8%

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $269.25 and its 200-day moving average is $219.56. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.01, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current 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 paid 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 is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.64, for a total transaction of $9,640,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,304,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $683,642,180.16. The trade was a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.80, for a total value of $32,681.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,253,567.20. This represents a 0.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 225,072 shares of company stock worth $58,074,027. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in Alphabet by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 891,182 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $216,646,000 after acquiring an additional 60,861 shares during the period. Payne Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Payne Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Investment Research Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth $3,714,000. Cambria Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 236.7% in the third quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. now owns 18,699 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,546,000 after purchasing an additional 13,146 shares during the period. Finally, Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 65.2% in the third quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 25,435 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,183,000 after purchasing an additional 10,041 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.