Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Up 0.3%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price was up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $186.09 and last traded at $185.82. Approximately 10,242,126 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 22,006,512 shares. The stock had previously closed at $185.24.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Argus raised their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.66.

Alphabet Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.50, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $174.46 and a 200-day moving average of $155.39.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.67, for a total transaction of $113,668.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,880,764.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,275,043.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.67, for a total transaction of $113,668.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,880,764.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 123,788 shares of company stock valued at $21,143,403 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. raised its stake in Alphabet by 59.2% in the 1st quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 293 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 87.5% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 300 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in 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.