Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Up 2% – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) rose 2% on Monday . The company traded as high as $170.02 and last traded at $169.52. Approximately 4,537,891 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 17,803,202 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.06, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $184.37 and a 200-day moving average of $178.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. 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.