Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Down 1.4% – Time to Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was down 1.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $347.00 and last traded at $347.15. Approximately 22,466,920 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 32,155,088 shares. The stock had previously closed at $351.99.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s new Gemini model updates and reported Frozen v2 AI chip could reduce costs, improve efficiency, and strengthen its AI and cloud margins. Reuters: Google plans new chip to run Gemini models more efficiently
• Positive Sentiment: Investors remain hopeful that Search and Google Cloud growth will show Alphabet can monetize AI while maintaining strong revenue momentum heading into earnings. Invezz: What to expect from Alphabet’s Q2 earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s upcoming Q2 report is expected to be a major test of whether AI infrastructure spending is translating into growth, making the stock especially sensitive to guidance. CNBC: Google expands Gemini lineup
• Negative Sentiment: Concerns persist that the flagship Gemini Pro launch has been delayed, which could signal execution risk in Alphabet’s AI roadmap. Reuters: Alphabet’s Gemini delay, spending worries loom over earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple securities-fraud investigations were announced, creating a legal overhang even though no wrongdoing has been established. PR Newswire: Securities fraud investigation into Alphabet continues

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. China Renaissance upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Alphabet from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $414.54.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92. The stock has a market cap of $4.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $368.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $338.41.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The company had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at $9,345,358.56. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $545,941.03. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after buying an additional 12,531,695 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,524,841,000 after acquiring an additional 4,008,374 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 146,193,037 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $45,625,595,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666,676 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,534,239,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 69,108,183 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $21,630,861,000 after acquiring an additional 3,218,852 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.