Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 1.7% on Analyst Downgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares traded down 1.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on the stock from $222.00 to $215.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as low as $159.74 and last traded at $161.61. 11,806,785 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 27,244,359 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.38.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on GOOGL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,421,948.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 312,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,765,346. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 217,592 shares of company stock valued at $35,922,911. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $30,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $36,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 59.2% in the 1st quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 293 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.77, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50 day moving average is $161.81 and its 200 day moving average is $167.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

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.