Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 0.6% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price was up 0.6% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $201.45 and last traded at $201.21. Approximately 3,228,039 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 15,313,084 shares. The stock had previously closed at $200.03.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Pivotal Research lifted 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. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

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 $2.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.78, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $187.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at $3,468,029.04. This trade represents a 13.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,193,768,000 after purchasing an additional 5,655,022 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,573,125,000 after buying an additional 3,113,395 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 65.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,294,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,052,349,000 after buying an additional 2,500,621 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 182.1% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,526,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $422,331,000 after acquiring an additional 1,630,701 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 9.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,424,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,578,793,000 after acquiring an additional 1,291,274 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is 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.