Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 1.1% - Should You Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) dropped 1.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $183.63 and last traded at $185.06. Approximately 4,190,916 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 17,739,598 shares. The stock had previously closed at $187.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $2.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00. The business's 50 day moving average is $194.37 and its 200 day moving average is $176.65.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,991,725 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,470,344,000 after acquiring an additional 3,189,592 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 104,777,092 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $19,894,651,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,606 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Alphabet by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,376,706,000 after acquiring an additional 5,758,244 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Alphabet by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,873,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,917,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 39,148,500 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,455,571,000 after acquiring an additional 294,556 shares in the last quarter. 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.