Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) dropped 1.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $174.10 and last traded at $175.09. Approximately 21,869,857 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 2% from the average daily volume of 21,406,588 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.24.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $196.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $164.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $193.26.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.2 %

The company has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. The business's fifty day moving average price is $169.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $151.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 12.27%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total transaction of $266,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,727 shares in the company, valued at $663,107.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 12,084 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.19, for a total transaction of $1,826,979.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 48,717 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,365,523.23. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total transaction of $266,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,727 shares of the company's stock, valued at $663,107.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,958 shares of company stock worth $22,383,553 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $369,000. Keynote Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,154,000. IMS Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 22.7% in the 1st quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 12,385 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,869,000 after buying an additional 2,295 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 45,907 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,929,000 after buying an additional 2,886 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OMC Financial Services LTD bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $4,227,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.