Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 3.9% - Should You Sell?

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) dropped 3.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $152.18 and last traded at $152.68. Approximately 9,855,207 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 18,879,610 shares. The stock had previously closed at $158.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Westpark Capital initiated coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.65.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.0 %

The company has a market cap of $1.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The business's fifty day moving average price is $177.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

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Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the 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 completion of 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 represents a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,395,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $966,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.