Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 0.2%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price dropped 0.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $151.33 and last traded at $151.70. Approximately 3,372,420 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 22,835,184 shares. The stock had previously closed at $151.94.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GOOG. Susquehanna increased their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James increased their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $146.33.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $144.75 and a 200-day moving average of $139.39. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.28 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.11, for a total value of $3,152,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,422,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,443,236.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.50, for a total transaction of $74,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,791 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,314,254.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.11, for a total value of $3,152,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,422,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,443,236.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 251,378 shares of company stock worth $35,461,377. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,962 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,109,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $17,854,000. Fairman Group LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $72,000. Napatree Capital LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $848,000. Finally, Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $3,862,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.