Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 0.6%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price fell 0.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $153.96 and last traded at $155.13. 8,154,625 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 29,795,414 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Alphabet from $153.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Redburn Atlantic upped their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.41.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $146.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $140.40.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,922.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $362,516,961.51. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,326,922.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482 over the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Spreng Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,754 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,878,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 296 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $823,000 after buying an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7 shares during the period. Finally, Weik Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Weik Capital Management now owns 1,533 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,264,000 after acquiring an additional 8 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Alphabet

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.