Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 1.3% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) fell 1.3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $169.64 and last traded at $170.55. 4,855,908 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 17,778,122 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One research analyst has 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.56.

Alphabet Stock Down 4.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $182.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 104,812 shares of company stock valued at $19,336,979 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Milestone Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $812,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $206,000. Prostatis Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Prostatis Group LLC now owns 2,167 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Nestegg Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Finally, Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,659,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.