Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 0.7% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) rose 0.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $202.14 and last traded at $199.32. Approximately 6,036,099 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 13,688,532 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.7 %

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.38. The company has a market cap of $2.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total transaction of $3,741,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,106,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $350,361,837.80. The trade was a 1.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 155,887 shares of company stock valued at $27,996,356. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 41.1% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 341,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $62,644,000 after acquiring an additional 99,472 shares in the last quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 10.9% during the second quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC now owns 6,163 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,130,000 after buying an additional 606 shares during the period. Counterweight Ventures LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.5% in the second quarter. Counterweight Ventures LLC now owns 26,182 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,802,000 after buying an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. Certuity LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.4% during the second quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 23,797 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,365,000 after acquiring an additional 3,354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orca Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Orca Investment Management LLC now owns 43,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,050,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.