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

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) traded down 1.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $167.39 and last traded at $168.73. 14,733,922 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 29,891,142 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Westpark Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.75.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market cap of $2.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.56.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 163,159 shares of company stock valued at $26,534,426. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,425,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Burt Wealth Advisors grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors now owns 5,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,005,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Perritt Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Alphabet by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 618 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently 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.