Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Down 2.2% – Should You Sell?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price dropped 2.2% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $333.69 and last traded at $334.7060. Approximately 79,988,127 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 267% from the average session volume of 21,806,785 shares. The stock had previously closed at $342.19.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is set to join the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a potentially supportive index-inclusion event that can lift demand from passive funds and improve visibility for the stock. Alphabet to replace Verizon in Dow Jones Industrial reshuffle
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to highlight Alphabet’s strong advertising growth and AI-driven ad tools, suggesting there is still upside from its core Search and ads business. Alphabet Benefits From Rising Advertising Revenues: More Upside Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush said the recent tech sell-off looks like a buying opportunity rather than a breakdown in the AI trade, and included Alphabet among the core long-term winners. Wedbush brushes off tech sell-off as buying chance in multi-year AI bull run
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is still being framed by some investors as a top-tier AI compounder, with strong Google Cloud growth and large AI infrastructure demand supporting the long-term thesis. Alphabet: Still A Top-Tier AI Compounder

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $430.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.78.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.2%

The firm has a market cap of $4.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $366.32 and a 200-day moving average of $331.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.81 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total transaction of $178,701.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,923,235.59. The trade was a 5.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 151,523 shares of company stock valued at $4,863,526 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,508 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,844 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,390,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. now owns 1,589 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Enhancement Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the first quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.