Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 2.4% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) fell by 2.4% to $192.61, with trading volume significantly down by 58% compared to its average.
• Analysts have set an average price target of $215.19 for Alphabet, with upgrades leading to targets as high as $245.00 from Pivotal Research.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, translating to an annual yield of 0.4%, with a payout ratio currently at 8.95%.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) dropped 2.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $192.81 and last traded at $192.61. Approximately 10,238,772 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 24,225,482 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.44.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Pivotal Research raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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 business's 50 day moving average is $178.96 and its 200 day moving average is $174.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 249,399 shares of company stock valued at $43,525,794. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $96,465,000 after acquiring an additional 20,855 shares during the period. Disciplined Investors L.L.C. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $614,000. Biltmore Family Office LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 23,101 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,399,000 after buying an additional 661 shares during the period. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp grew its position in Alphabet by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 61,641 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $11,739,000 after buying an additional 3,140 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.