Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 1.3% – Time to Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price was down 1.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $169.64 and last traded at $170.55. Approximately 4,855,908 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 17,778,122 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $183.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.07, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors 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.