Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 2.2% on Analyst Downgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 2.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $205.00 to $190.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as low as $159.67 and last traded at $159.80. 10,714,693 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 27,532,980 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.38.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on GOOGL. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $222.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at $5,136,807.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 682 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total transaction of $600,175.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9 shares in the company, valued at $1,655.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 156,565 shares of company stock valued at $26,814,740. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% during the second quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the second quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% during the first quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC now owns 6,624 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.0% in the second quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 6,309 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,149,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $164.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.27%.

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.