Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Down 0.7%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) shares dropped 0.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $170.52 and last traded at $171.70. Approximately 3,657,759 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 22,516,775 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.98.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $165.67.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.25, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $152.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. Alphabet's revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.66 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a -- dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 682 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total value of $93,086.18. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 28,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,903,886.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares of the company's stock, valued at $243,854,485.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 682 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,903,886.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,629 shares of company stock worth $37,091,240 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Darden Wealth Group Inc lifted its stake in Alphabet by 4.9% in the first quarter. Darden Wealth Group Inc now owns 13,672 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,082,000 after acquiring an additional 635 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 2,332,277 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $355,112,000 after purchasing an additional 84,910 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Money Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $218,000. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $530,000. Finally, Summit Rock Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth $21,651,000. 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.