Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 2.4% – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares shot up 2.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $365.68 and last traded at $364.90. 22,167,881 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 1% from the average session volume of 21,849,533 shares. The stock had previously closed at $356.18.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet is getting fresh bullish attention from market commentators and analysts, including CNBC’s “Final Trades,” where Kevin Simpson named GOOG as his pick. Netflix, Alphabet, Nike And A Consumer Defensive Stock On CNBC’s ‘Final Trades’
• Positive Sentiment: New reports highlight Alphabet’s AI product launches and model improvements, which support the company’s growth narrative and suggest continued monetization opportunities across Search and Cloud. Google Just Launched 2 New AI Models. What That Means for GOOGL Stock.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s cloud business is showing strong traction, with Google Cloud revenue growth and a large backlog cited as evidence that enterprise AI demand is strengthening. Alphabet Stock Has Doubled in a Year. Is It Too Late to Buy?
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s stake in Anthropic is drawing attention after reports of a possible massive IPO, potentially increasing the perceived value of Alphabet’s AI investments. Anthropic Could Be a $1 Trillion IPO This Fall. These 2 Stocks Already Own a Piece.
• Neutral Sentiment: A new TechCrunch report says Google users may need to opt out if they do not want uploaded media used to train AI models, which could raise privacy concerns but is not yet a clear financial impact. If you use Google, you’re training its AI. Here’s how to opt out.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that some Google employees are being lured away by AI startups point to increased competition for talent, but this is more of a long-term risk than an immediate earnings issue. Google’s status as the dream tech job is changing. FOMO over AI salaries is only one reason why.
• Negative Sentiment: Waymo’s robotaxis reportedly stalled in San Francisco traffic on July 4, a reminder that Alphabet’s autonomous-driving business still faces operational challenges. Waymo says some of its robotaxis ran out of power during San Francisco’s July 4 gridlock and had to be towed

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Truist Financial set a $430.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 1st. TD Cowen upped their price target on Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.19.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.4%

The company has a market capitalization of $4.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $368.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $333.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.81 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at $545,941.03. The trade was a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at $26,298,044.10. The trade was a 10.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 160,465 shares of company stock worth $8,020,511 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A increased its stake in Alphabet by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.