Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 2.7% on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price was up 2.7% on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $206.31 and last traded at $206.59. Approximately 9,022,980 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 24,318,578 shares. The stock had previously closed at $201.23.

The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 30,616 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,796,000 after purchasing an additional 5,665 shares during the last quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 262,704 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $49,730,000 after buying an additional 1,705 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 9,387 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,777,000 after buying an additional 1,686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carmel Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,405 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.41, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The business has a 50-day moving average of $190.83 and a 200 day moving average of $174.52.

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.