Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 0.9% – Here’s What Happened

by · The Cerbat Gem

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report)’s stock price fell 0.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $146.15 and last traded at $149.36. 17,464,857 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 27,443,529 shares. The stock had previously closed at $150.72.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOGL. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Westpark Capital upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on GOOGL

Alphabet Stock Performance

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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $175.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,871,384,000 after acquiring an additional 337,031 shares during the last quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 21,940 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,639,000 after buying an additional 1,701 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.3% in the third quarter. Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 14,483 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,402,000 after acquiring an additional 1,813 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 143,319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $23,770,000 after purchasing an additional 2,386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nwam LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 60,187 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,982,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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