Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 0.1%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) traded up 0.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $160.73 and last traded at $160.02. 5,298,795 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 21,857,717 shares. The stock had previously closed at $159.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Raymond James raised their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $159.86.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.7 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $147.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $142.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.59, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.28 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total transaction of $3,541,725.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Waypoint Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 13.6% during the first quarter. Waypoint Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 13,163 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,004,000 after purchasing an additional 1,579 shares during the last quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the first quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC now owns 3,223 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4,253.7% during the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 189,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,796,000 after purchasing an additional 184,781 shares during the last quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 27,688 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,216,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% during the first quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,563 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,913,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.