Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 1.4% - Here's What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) shares traded down 1.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $175.47 and last traded at $174.82. 6,878,262 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 21,028,033 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.39.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and six have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $206.38.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $168.37 and a 200-day moving average of $175.80. The company has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.69, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,575,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 255,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,695,000. This trade represents a 3.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock worth $35,682,228 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Kera Capital Partners Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 8.2% during the second quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 32,209 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,713,000 after acquiring an additional 2,454 shares during the period. Private Client Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 42.7% in the second quarter. Private Client Services LLC now owns 10,263 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,069 shares during the period. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.6% in the second quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV now owns 88,405 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $15,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,055 shares during the last quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $31,698,000. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Alphabet by 12.2% during the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 9,519,121 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,487,172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036,051 shares in the last quarter. 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.

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