Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Up 0.6% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) rose 0.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $197.25 and last traded at $197.19. Approximately 2,502,493 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 19,807,303 shares. The stock had previously closed at $195.99.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research increased their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.21, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average is $176.73 and its 200 day moving average is $172.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.07, for a total transaction of $3,759,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,129,306 shares in the company, valued at $355,743,153.42. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 178,257 shares of company stock worth $31,243,187 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. IMS Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the third quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 33,879 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,664,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 55,309 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,247,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 26,962 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,508,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $962,000. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $9,181,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.