Short Interest in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Increases By 6.9%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 68,680,000 shares, an increase of 6.9% from the October 31st total of 64,260,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 25,670,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.90.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at $4,421,948.46. This represents a 8.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 163,624 shares of company stock worth $27,803,730. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $174.37 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.29. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $128.25 and a 52-week high of $191.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

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.