Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 0.5% – What’s Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) traded down 0.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $184.37 and last traded at $185.29. 6,191,772 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 27,143,291 shares. The stock had previously closed at $186.14.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of several analyst reports. DZ Bank lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.62.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.5 %

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total transaction of $3,975,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $364,259,266.02. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Schear Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during the third quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 33,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,598,000 after buying an additional 4,905 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 27.9% during the third quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 25,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,516 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 6,305,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,037,196,000 after purchasing an additional 611,233 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 8,981 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,700,000 after buying an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 22.9% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 61,540 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,206,000 after buying an additional 11,481 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.