Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $171.74, but opened at $167.84. Alphabet shares last traded at $168.54, with a volume of 10,493,465 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DZ Bank downgraded Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.7%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $159.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 163,270 shares of company stock valued at $26,553,563 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,582 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 4,383 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $830,000 after buying an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $9,490,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $20,886,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% 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.