Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Short Interest Down 7.6% in December

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) saw a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 65,560,000 shares, a decline of 7.6% from the December 15th total of 70,960,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 27,510,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth approximately $41,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 19.0% during the third quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.15.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.6 %

GOOGL stock traded up $3.09 during trading on Monday, hitting $196.00. The company had a trading volume of 27,621,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,105,888. The stock has a market cap of $2.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.99, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $184.43 and a 200-day moving average of $173.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet has a one year low of $130.66 and a one year high of $201.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

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.