Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 1.8% – What’s Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price was up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $170.46 and last traded at $169.65. Approximately 5,615,614 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 19,588,791 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target for the company. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $169.71 and its 200-day simple moving average 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at $5,136,807.48. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,307,206.90. The trade was a 35.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 48.4% in the third quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 3,967 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $663,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 161,875 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $27,065,000 after acquiring an additional 4,017 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 9.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 276,388 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,209,000 after acquiring an additional 23,624 shares during the last quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $365,000. Finally, Destination Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 28,234 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,721,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.