Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 0.5% Higher – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares shot up 0.5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $176.26 and last traded at $175.37. 25,389,631 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 6% from the average session volume of 27,089,088 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Loop Capital raised their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.03.

Alphabet Stock Up 5.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $2.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average of $170.66 and a 200-day moving average of $170.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released 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 the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders 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 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total transaction of $3,614,175.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,114,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their position. 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 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $115,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,590,960. This trade represents a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 197,123 shares of company stock worth $34,121,676 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $842,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Omega Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 39.9% in the 2nd quarter. Omega Financial Group LLC now owns 3,050 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $556,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the period. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC now owns 1,824 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 39,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,178,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 61.0% during the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 194,869 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,826,000 after purchasing an additional 73,802 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is 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.