Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 0.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) traded up 0.3% on Friday after DA Davidson raised their price target on the stock from $190.00 to $200.00. DA Davidson currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $200.26 and last traded at $198.64. 5,272,042 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 22,702,318 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.98.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 target price (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. The trade was a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total transaction of $234,331.14. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,516,745.58. This trade represents a 4.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Denver PWM LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 25.4% in the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

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’s fifty day moving average price is $185.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.35, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.98.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.