Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 0.5% – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price fell 0.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $193.97 and last traded at $195.78. 7,848,873 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 19,588,586 shares. The stock had previously closed at $196.71.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. DA Davidson raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $172.21 and a 200-day moving average of $171.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. The trade was a 4.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 197,123 shares of company stock valued at $34,121,676. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. 1ST Source Bank increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the third quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 55,309 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,247,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 26,962 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,508,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $962,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $9,181,000. Finally, Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $339,000. 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.