Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 1.1% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) fell 1.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $243.20 and last traded at $244.36. 23,033,865 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 3% from the average session volume of 23,865,432 shares. The stock had previously closed at $247.18.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOG. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Phillip Securities downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.35.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $216.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.53.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total value of $7,466,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at $558,219,089.16. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,236,785. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 257,866 shares of company stock worth $52,363,610 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Dimension Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimension Capital Management LLC now owns 13,968 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,478,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Adams Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Adams Wealth Management now owns 2,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $414,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. CacheTech Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. CacheTech Inc. now owns 2,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $414,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 4,485 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $796,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Challenger Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Challenger Wealth Management now owns 1,335 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.