Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 2.1% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) rose 2.1% on Friday . The company traded as high as $205.02 and last traded at $205.03. Approximately 7,625,077 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 23,771,451 shares. The stock had previously closed at $200.87.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.00.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.6 %

The company has a market cap of $2.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.06, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $188.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $550,702.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,468,029.04. The trade was a 13.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total value of $3,990,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,084,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,672,512.16. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 121,630 shares of company stock worth $22,258,133. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bennett Selby Investments LP increased its stake in Alphabet by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Macroview Investment Management LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during 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 raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 25.4% in the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

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.