Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 438,220 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 79% compared to the typical daily volume of 244,703 call options.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total transaction of $1,862,805.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 319,966 shares in the company, valued at $56,765,168.06. The trade was a 3.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. This trade represents a 35.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 184,295 shares of company stock worth $30,698,791. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.6% in the second quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Hengehold Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the second quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% in the second 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 during the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank raised its position in Alphabet by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 1,655 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cutler Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,663 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 5.7 %

GOOGL stock traded down $9.97 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $166.01. 42,321,379 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 27,129,285. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $167.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.40. The company has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.03. 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 has a 52 week low of $127.90 and a 52 week high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Scotiabank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.90.

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.