Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 2.9%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price was down 2.9% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $152.77 and last traded at $156.41. Approximately 10,398,082 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 21,879,102 shares. The stock had previously closed at $161.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $165.67.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.75 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.79 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,009,032.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at $347,832,416.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 253,439 shares of company stock valued at $36,746,578 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 3.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 120,234,117 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,852,868,000 after buying an additional 4,348,188 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Alphabet by 11.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 95,941,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,649,838,000 after buying an additional 9,703,425 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 80,246,520 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,309,370,000 after buying an additional 862,550 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,269,184 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,550,942,000 after buying an additional 1,275,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,101,040,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.