Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 1% – Should You Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price was down 1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $317.20 and last traded at $320.28. Approximately 29,714,873 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 24% from the average daily volume of 23,900,359 shares. The stock had previously closed at $323.64.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. HSBC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $304.62.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.0%

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $265.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $217.01. The company has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 8.28%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total transaction of $694,638.90. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,629,725.80. The trade was a 16.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 227,952 shares of company stock valued at $58,896,009. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley increased its stake in Alphabet by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. WestEnd Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 58.7% during the second quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 121.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $31,000. 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.