Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 0.3% – Should You Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares were down 0.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $193.43 and last traded at $194.75. Approximately 5,192,519 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 23,916,639 shares. The stock had previously closed at $195.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday. China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.82.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.6 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $187.14 and its 200-day moving average is $173.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The company has a market cap of $2.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.98.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total value of $234,331.14. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,516,745.58. The trade was a 4.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 122,887 shares of company stock worth $22,470,464. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Bennett Selby Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Denver PWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% in the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ignite Planners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 15,078 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,892,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.