Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 1% Higher

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) traded up 1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $159.94 and last traded at $159.53. 4,345,712 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 21,914,412 shares. The stock had previously closed at $157.95.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer boosted 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. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $159.86.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $148.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $142.40.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Partnership Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Buck Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% 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.