Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 1.5% – What’s Next?

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shot up 1.5% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $165.58 and last traded at $165.10. 5,382,241 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 26,772,840 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.72.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GOOGL. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Securities increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $182.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.76.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.6 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $161.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.36. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,421,948.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 220,426 shares of company stock valued at $35,993,340 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 43,005.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,086,250,000 after buying an additional 18,700,111 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 587.4% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,690,326 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,772,991,000 after acquiring an additional 9,135,056 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,724,251,000 after purchasing an additional 7,275,757 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Alphabet by 116.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,670,225 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,437,957,000 after purchasing an additional 4,662,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its position in Alphabet by 18,810.2% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,434,260 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $807,700,000 after purchasing an additional 4,410,811 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.