Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 1.1% - Should You Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 1.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $165.28 and last traded at $167.17. Approximately 18,801,245 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 37% from the average daily volume of 29,944,192 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $178.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1%

The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.88, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $159.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.43.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

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.