Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 3.4% on Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares rose 3.4% during trading on Wednesday after Loop Capital raised their price target on the stock from $170.00 to $185.00. Loop Capital currently has a hold rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $176.56 and last traded at $175.53. Approximately 12,031,002 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 27,106,762 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.74.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.03, for a total value of $130,424.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 30,024 shares in the company, valued at $4,894,812.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.03, for a total transaction of $130,424.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,894,812.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 232,052 shares of company stock worth $38,424,448 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. New Hampshire Trust raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.7% in the second quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 43,714 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,963,000 after buying an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Money Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $359,000. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 58.4% in the 1st quarter. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP now owns 6,374 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 2,351 shares during the period. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% during the third quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% in the third quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,509 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,567,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.36.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

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.