Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 0.7% – Here’s Why

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) dropped 0.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $166.48 and last traded at $166.48. Approximately 3,639,983 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 18,767,873 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.62.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on GOOG. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $187.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 in the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Members Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $1,164,000. Tableaux LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $480,000. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $329,725,000. Northstar Financial Companies Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $1,735,000. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 35.9% in the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 98,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $18,800,000 after purchasing an additional 26,092 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% 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.