Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 0.9% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price shot up 0.9% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $164.80 and last traded at $164.59. 2,443,655 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 19,750,299 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.18.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.90.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $162.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.25.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The company’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total transaction of $230,804.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,927,257.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $115,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 29,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,838,460. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 216,092 shares of company stock valued at $35,644,136. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,355,724,000 after buying an additional 7,470,042 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 84,171,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,815,986,000 after buying an additional 13,876,534 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 45,731,826 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,963,128,000 after buying an additional 979,083 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Alphabet by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 35,558,778 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,414,179,000 after purchasing an additional 684,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Alphabet by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,657,421 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,688,743,000 after purchasing an additional 636,008 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.