Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Short Interest Down 16.0% in September

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 36,070,000 shares, a drop of 16.0% from the September 15th total of 42,930,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 17,910,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Pivotal Research initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, June 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $204.00 to $187.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.90.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.1 %

GOOG traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $166.74. 9,957,069 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,670,381. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The company has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet has a one year low of $121.46 and a one year high of $193.31. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $163.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.57.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.75, for a total transaction of $123,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 28,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,385,565. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,183 shares in the company, valued at $4,927,257.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 220,426 shares of company stock valued at $35,993,340. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $92,000. Vima LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $158,000. Northwest Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $3,166,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Processus Wealth & Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,506,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.