Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 64,260,000 shares, a decrease of 6.2% from the October 15th total of 68,510,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 24,420,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total transaction of $3,772,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,159,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,126,319.10. The trade was a 1.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $3,442,233.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. This represents a 35.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,471,141. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $1.23 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $173.72. 2,058,133 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,032,811. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $165.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The company has a market cap of $2.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $127.90 and a 12 month high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 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.