Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 1.2%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Wedbush upped their price target on Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Alphabet from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Alphabet from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.26.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $169.61 and a 200 day moving average of $152.06. The company has a market capitalization of $2.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.04, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total value of $266,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $663,107.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total value of $266,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $663,107.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.67, for a total transaction of $3,502,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,325,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $362,012,608.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,958 shares of company stock worth $22,383,553. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% in the third quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. now owns 48,569 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the period. Valley Forge Investment Consultants Inc. ADV raised its position in Alphabet by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Valley Forge Investment Consultants Inc. ADV now owns 5,497 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $719,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC now owns 16,080 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,104,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the third quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 99,140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,973,000 after buying an additional 1,829 shares during the period. Finally, Sykon Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 69.3% in the third quarter. Sykon Capital LLC now owns 12,928 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,692,000 after acquiring an additional 5,293 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.