Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 0.3% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price was up 0.3% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $169.11 and last traded at $168.17. Approximately 4,853,951 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 27,180,684 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.65.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of several research reports. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.90.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total value of $3,570,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,137,385 shares in the company, valued at $339,160,251.80. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 70.6% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,230 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,279,000 after purchasing an additional 41,880 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 31,171 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares during the period. Point Break Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $2,807,000. PYA Waltman Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC now owns 69,841 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,541,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC now owns 9,658 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,458,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.