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

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) rose 0.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $192.00 and last traded at $190.51. Approximately 6,467,392 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 27,460,176 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. China Renaissance upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.44.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $180.24 and a 200-day moving average of $172.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total transaction of $3,741,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,106,806 shares in the company, valued at $350,361,837.80. This represents a 1.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 155,887 shares of company stock valued at $27,996,356. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Denver PWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank lifted its position in Alphabet by 3.8% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 1,655 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.7% in the third quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,663 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. MKT Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.8% during the third quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 7,363 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 19.0% during the third quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.