Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 1.9% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Alphabet Inc.'s stock price fell by 1.9%, trading at $237.49 after a decline from a previous close of $242.21.
• Equities analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a range of ratings including six Strong Buy and twenty-one Buy ratings, and an average price target of $241.00.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.31, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a year-over-year revenue growth of 13.8%.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) shares fell 1.9% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $236.69 and last traded at $237.49. 22,061,811 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 7% from the average session volume of 23,660,092 shares. The stock had previously closed at $242.21.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group set a $255.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $241.00.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.29, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00. The stock's 50-day moving average is $226.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.21.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 580,897.4% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 135,087,705 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $23,963,208,000 after acquiring an additional 135,064,454 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth approximately $4,298,572,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth approximately $2,622,943,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,299,725,000 after purchasing an additional 9,687,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,971,861,000 after purchasing an additional 9,243,959 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently 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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