Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 0.9% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) traded up 0.9% during trading on Thursday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $215.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $186.05 and last traded at $185.54. 5,381,693 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 28,641,057 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.88.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $164.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.69.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total transaction of $105,566.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,532,870.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total transaction of $105,566.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,532,870.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 146,284 shares of company stock valued at $24,534,393. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the first quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC now owns 6,624 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. M. Kraus & Co boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the first quarter. M. Kraus & Co now owns 6,267 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Wynn Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% in the first quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Aire Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 11,772 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,645,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% in the first quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,274 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $511,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $171.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.36. The company has a market cap of $2.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.46, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

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.