Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 0.5% - Should You Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) shares fell 0.5% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $165.73 and last traded at $166.89. 5,551,377 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 18,763,887 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.81.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GOOG. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.3 %

The company's 50-day moving average is $188.87 and its 200-day moving average is $178.08. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

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Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at $4,529,987.28. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,182 shares of company stock valued at $18,192,354. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.