Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 0.3% – What’s Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price was down 0.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $179.39 and last traded at $179.79. Approximately 5,255,854 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 27,030,518 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.35.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.22 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $163.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total transaction of $1,862,805.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 319,966 shares in the company, valued at $56,765,168.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total transaction of $1,862,805.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 319,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,765,168.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 241,752 shares of company stock valued at $40,156,829. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. New Hampshire Trust grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 43,714 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Berkshire Money Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at $359,000. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 58.4% in the first quarter. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP now owns 6,374 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 2,351 shares in the last quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc grew its stake in Alphabet by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 6,305,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,037,196,000 after purchasing an additional 611,233 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.