Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 2.5% - Time to Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 2.5% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $194.11 and last traded at $196.89. Approximately 8,725,524 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 15,488,639 shares. The stock had previously closed at $201.90.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. The company's 50 day moving average is $187.95 and its 200-day moving average is $175.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $550,702.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,468,029.04. The trade was a 13.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $19,193,768,000 after acquiring an additional 5,655,022 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 10.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,573,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,113,395 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 65.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,294,332 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,052,349,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500,621 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 182.1% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,526,055 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $422,331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630,701 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,424,324 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,578,793,000 after buying an additional 1,291,274 shares during 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.