Short Interest in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Decreases By 8.2%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 60,150,000 shares, a drop of 8.2% from the January 15th total of 65,510,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 28,740,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 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 transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bennett Selby Investments LP increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on GOOGL. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.62.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $1.46 on Tuesday, hitting $183.77. The stock had a trading volume of 29,865,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,718,180. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $130.66 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The business’s fifty day moving average is $193.05 and its 200 day moving average is $175.30. The company has a market cap of $2.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

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.