Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Down 2.8%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was down 2.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $150.87 and last traded at $154.66. Approximately 16,231,333 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average daily volume of 29,681,627 shares. The stock had previously closed at $159.13.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Redburn Atlantic lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Alphabet from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.71.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $146.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $141.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.67, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $347,832,416.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,854,485.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $15,441,917,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 5.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,746,764,000 after acquiring an additional 12,070,681 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 493,810,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $68,980,354,000 after acquiring an additional 6,374,756 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in Alphabet by 39,754.9% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 6,025,667 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $841,725,000 after acquiring an additional 6,010,548 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 4,894.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,445,396 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,606,670,000 after buying an additional 5,336,359 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is 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.