Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Up 0.8% – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) traded up 0.8% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $196.11 and last traded at $196.11. 10,403,259 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 27,650,488 shares. The stock had previously closed at $194.63.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.69.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.94, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $177.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $171.90.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total transaction of $230,804.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. The trade was a 4.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total value of $247,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,342,143.80. This trade represents a 5.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 161,455 shares of company stock valued at $28,462,960. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $53,000. 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.