Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 0.3%

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) dropped 0.3% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $168.18 and last traded at $168.94. Approximately 4,923,162 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 30,314,164 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.38.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Argus upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.60.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $152.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $143.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.57 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total value of $3,219,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,355,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $336,980,728.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total value of $3,219,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,355,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $336,980,728.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,854,485.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 252,629 shares of company stock valued at $37,091,240. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Meritage Group LP raised its position in Alphabet by 1,061.5% in the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 165.8% during the 3rd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.