Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 2.8% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price shot up 2.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $199.56 and last traded at $198.63. 5,273,919 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 11,718,202 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective for the company. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $181.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.97. 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 capitalization of $2.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total value of $247,425.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,342,143.80. The trade was a 5.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 155,887 shares of company stock worth $27,996,356 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lowery Thomas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $209,000. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 7.7% in the second quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 29,149 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,347,000 after purchasing an additional 2,076 shares during the period. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 50.7% in the second quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the second quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 101,807 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,674,000 after buying an additional 892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 22,315 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,093,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. 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.