Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 1.7% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Shares of Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) fell 1.7% during trading, reaching a low of $188.70, with a significant drop in trading volume compared to the average.
• Despite the decline, analysts remain optimistic, with Oppenheimer and Pivotal Research raising their price targets to $235 and $245, respectively, while the stock maintains a Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of $215.19.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a low payout ratio of 8.95%, scheduled for payment on September 15th.

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) traded down 1.7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $188.70 and last traded at $189.64. 8,805,460 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 24,236,912 shares. The stock had previously closed at $192.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $235.00 target price (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.19.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company has a market cap of $2.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $178.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total transaction of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,094,245.74. This trade represents a 6.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 249,399 shares of company stock worth $43,525,794 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 40.6% during the 2nd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 13,030 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,311,000 after buying an additional 3,760 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 938,973 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $166,564,000 after purchasing an additional 159,100 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 29,374 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,211,000 after purchasing an additional 3,384 shares in the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.7% during the second quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 12,051 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,138,000 after buying an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its stake in Alphabet by 91.2% in the 2nd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 3,872 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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