Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 1% Higher – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price was up 1% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $181.80 and last traded at $181.66. Approximately 3,274,441 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 19,589,656 shares. The stock had previously closed at $179.86.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Pivotal Research raised their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $165.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $171.50.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total value of $1,862,805.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 319,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,765,168.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’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 value of $1,862,805.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 319,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,765,168.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total transaction of $5,570,188.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 312,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,765,346. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 241,752 shares of company stock worth $40,156,829 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its position in Alphabet by 87.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP acquired a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.