Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Short Interest Update

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 43,490,000 shares, a growth of 7.5% from the October 31st total of 40,440,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 18,060,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $173.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.95, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $171.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $129.40 and a 12-month high of $193.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 $86.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was 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 $4,421,948.46. The trade was a 8.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.75, for a total value of $123,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 28,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,385,565. This trade represents a 2.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 163,624 shares of company stock worth $27,803,730. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

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.