Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 1.9% Following Analyst Downgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 1.9% during trading on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $184.00 to $167.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as low as $150.66 and last traded at $151.41. 13,884,327 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average session volume of 27,231,144 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.33.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $209.13.

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Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the sale, the director now owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company's stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 87,297 shares of company stock worth $15,936,270 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its holdings in Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Denver PWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% during the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.1 %

The company has a market cap of $1.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.91, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $177.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

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.