Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Down 0% - What’s Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) experienced a slight decline in its stock price on Thursday, closing down 0% after trading within a range of $174.61 to $176.06. During midday trading, approximately 9.01 million shares exchanged hands, reflecting a significant decrease of 54% compared to the average trading volume of 19.6 million shares. The stock's previous close was $176.14.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several financial institutions have recently provided insights on Alphabet's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price from $208.00 to $212.00, rating the company as "overweight." Scotiabank also started coverage on Alphabet with a “sector outperform” rating and a price target of $212.00. In addition, Wells Fargo increased their target from $182.00 to $187.00, indicating an "equal weight" rating. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating while Canaccord Genuity upped their price objective from $220.00 to $225.00, classifying it as a “buy.” Overall, market analysis shows that five analysts rated the stock as a hold, thirteen as a buy, and two assigned a strong buy rating. Data from MarketBeat.com reveals that Alphabet holds an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.8%

The company's 50-day moving average stands at $163.56, while the 200-day moving average is at $170.30. Alphabet boasts a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27, and a beta of 1.04. Additionally, its quick ratio and current ratio both sit at 2.08, and the debt-to-equity ratio is at a low 0.04.

Recent Quarterly Earnings

Alphabet reported its latest quarterly earnings on October 29th, revealing earnings per share (EPS) of $2.12, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.83 by $0.29. The company's revenue for the quarter reached $88.27 billion, surpassing anticipations of $86.39 billion. Moreover, Alphabet achieved a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. Year-over-year, the revenue rose 15.1%, compared to $1.55 EPS in the same period last year. Analysts project Alphabet Inc. to post an EPS of 7.64 for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

On a related note, Alphabet has also announced a quarterly dividend set to be paid on December 16th, following a record date for shareholders on December 9th. The dividend will amount to $0.20 per share, which translates to an annualized dividend of $0.80 and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is the same as the record date, December 9th. Currently, Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 12.27%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In recent insider trading activity, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares on October 16th at an average price of $166.30, totaling $3,741,750.00. Post-transaction, he holds 2,106,806 shares valued at approximately $350 million. This sale represents a negligible decrease in his holdings. Additionally, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 682 shares on August 2nd at an average price of $168.00, amounting to $114,576. Following this transaction, she owns about 31,334 shares worth approximately $5.26 million. Insights show that in the past three months, insiders have sold 220,426 shares valued at roughly $36 million, accounting for 12.99% of the stock ownership by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and institutional investors have been active regarding their stakes in Alphabet. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings by 9.3%, acquiring an additional 7.47 million shares last quarter, bringing its total to around 87.72 million shares valued at $13.36 billion. JPMorgan Chase increased its stake significantly by 19.7%, now owning about 84.17 million shares worth about $12.82 billion. Other institutions like Capital World Investors and Dimensional Fund Advisors have also raised their investments in Alphabet. Currently, institutional investors hold approximately 27.26% of the stock.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc. offers a range of products and services primarily through its Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. Its services include well-known platforms and products, such as Google Search, YouTube, Gmail, Google Maps, and Google Drive, catering to a global audience.

Alphabet, stocks, market