Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 0.6% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) traded up 0.6% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $170.80 and last traded at $170.41. 3,516,119 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 19,584,447 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.43.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. DA Davidson raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on Alphabet in a report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $169.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $171.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. This trade represents a 8.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,741,643.48. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the second quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,985 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 3,636 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 2,944 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shira Ridge Wealth Management increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Shira Ridge Wealth Management now owns 15,490 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,841,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.