Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 1.9% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Alphabet's stock price fell by 1.9% to $245.76, with trading volume down 37% compared to its average.
• Equities analysts predominantly maintain a buy rating on Alphabet, with a consensus target price of $242.98 and several targets exceeding $200.
• Alphabet recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, contributing to an annualized yield of 0.3%.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 1.9% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $245.52 and last traded at $245.76. Approximately 22,941,742 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 37% from the average daily volume of 36,341,781 shares. The stock had previously closed at $250.43.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. HSBC assumed coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $285.00 target price for the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Alphabet from $191.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $242.98.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $222.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total transaction of $25,042.39. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,258.92. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 953 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.20, for a total value of $229,863.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,171,312.80. This trade represents a 5.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475 in the last three months. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $21,944,208,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $4,317,606,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 17,667.7% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245,075 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,686,640,000 after acquiring an additional 15,159,273 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $78,839,544,000 after acquiring an additional 14,307,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 51.7% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,817,684 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,607,232,000 after acquiring an additional 10,843,853 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.

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