Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 1.6% Higher – What’s Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price traded up 1.6% on Monday . The company traded as high as $198.81 and last traded at $197.55. 21,974,853 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 34% from the average session volume of 16,381,408 shares. The stock had previously closed at $194.41.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.76. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. The trade was a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 7,326 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 4,470 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Apeiron RIA LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $280,000. Veracity Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 8,193 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,560,000 after buying an additional 721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 13,013 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,478,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% 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.