Alphabet shares close little changed on Tuesday, EU regulators investigating if tech giant favors Google for Jobs

EU antitrust regulators are investigating whether Alphabet Incs Google unfairly favors its tool for searching job listings, European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said on Tuesday.

Alphabet shares closed lower for the fifth time in the past eleven trading sessions on NASDAQ on Tuesday. The stock edged down 0.09% ($1.05) to $1,167.84, after touching an intraday high at $1,182.93, or a price level not seen since August 23rd ($1,194.08).

Shares of Alphabet Inc have risen 12.77% so far in 2019 compared with a 14.45% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, Alphabet’s stock went down 1.03%, thus, it outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

Googles job-searching tool has already led to a number of complaints from rival job-finding services, with allegations stressing on anti-competitive behavior.

Having already imposed fines to Google in three separate cases, the EU antitrust chief pointed out concerns that similar anti-competitive practices might have occurred in other areas of Googles business.

“…we’re looking right now at whether the same thing may have happened with other parts of Google’s business – like the job search business known as Google for Jobs,” Margrethe Vestager said during a conference in Berlin, cited by Reuters.

“There’s also a broader issue for our societies, of whether we think it’s right for companies like Google and others to have such control over the success or failure of other companies, and be free to use that power in any way they like,” Europes antitrust chief said.

“If we don’t, then we may find that we need regulation, to make sure that these platforms use their power in a way that’s fair and doesn’t discriminate,” she added.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 40 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Alphabet Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $1,400.00, with a high estimate of $1,550.00 and a low estimate of $1,225.00. The median estimate represents a 19.88% upside compared to the closing price of $1,167.84 on August 27th.

The same media also reported that at least 34 out of 43 surveyed investment analysts had rated Alphabet Inc’s stock as “Buy”, while 6 – as “Hold”.