Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 0.9% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price rose 0.9% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $180.89 and last traded at $179.96. Approximately 4,021,144 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 19,627,500 shares. The stock had previously closed at $178.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.3 %

The company’s 50-day moving average is $164.92 and its 200 day moving average is $171.12. The company has a market cap of $2.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given 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 0.44%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.03, for a total value of $130,424.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,894,812.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.03, for a total value of $130,424.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,894,812.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 242,552 shares of company stock worth $40,287,253 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.3% in the second quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.6% in the second quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 11,366 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.4% in the third quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 162,384 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $27,149,000 after purchasing an additional 8,304 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.6% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 2,628,176 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $439,405,000 after purchasing an additional 115,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TSA Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $206,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.