Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 0.3% - Should You Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) fell 0.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $190.49 and last traded at $192.71. 8,495,869 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 17,521,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.30.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on GOOG. Scotiabank raised 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.1 %

The company has a market cap of $2.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.58, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $192.33 and a 200-day moving average of $176.03.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total transaction of $3,975,075.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,061,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,367 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tempus Wealth Planning LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 3,337 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $636,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.

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