Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 1% – Here’s Why

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) rose 1% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $194.60 and last traded at $191.97. Approximately 7,205,754 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 19,707,771 shares. The stock had previously closed at $190.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.7 %

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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $172.86. The stock has a market cap of $2.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $115,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,590,960. This trade represents a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 178,957 shares of company stock valued at $31,358,687. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 87.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.