Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 0.8% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) fell 0.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $163.80 and last traded at $163.84. 3,849,204 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 26,825,176 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.14.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $222.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.76.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.6 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.13, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $161.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,765,346. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total transaction of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 312,210 shares in the company, valued at $50,765,346. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total transaction of $3,652,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,182,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $354,310,204.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 220,426 shares of company stock worth $35,993,340. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV grew its position in Alphabet by 14.5% during the third quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 1,308 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. DT Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 12,374 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,052,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149 shares during the period. Global Trust Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 58.9% during the third quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 9,740 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 3,609 shares in the last quarter. Peoples Bank OH grew its holdings in Alphabet by 5.4% in the third quarter. Peoples Bank OH now owns 8,623 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,430,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 116.4% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,670,225 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,437,957,000 after buying an additional 4,662,809 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.