Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 2% – What’s Next?

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) rose 2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $167.85 and last traded at $167.29. Approximately 7,967,802 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 25,801,908 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.99.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DZ Bank lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush lifted their price target 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. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.59.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. 40.03% 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.