Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 0.4%

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) fell 0.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $177.07 and last traded at $177.24. 4,012,654 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 21,912,172 shares. The stock had previously closed at $178.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOG. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.67.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.7 %

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $160.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.60. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total transaction of $2,985,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares in the company, valued at $309,548,095.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total transaction of $2,985,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares in the company, valued at $309,548,095.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 28,602 shares in the company, valued at $3,903,886.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 205,935 shares of company stock worth $31,178,987. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Partnership Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Barometer Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.