Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 1% - Time to Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report)'s stock price dropped 1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $161.75 and last traded at $162.19. Approximately 6,871,514 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 19,263,966 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.94.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. 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 stock's 50 day moving average is $164.25 and its 200 day moving average is $177.35.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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