Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 1.4%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price rose 1.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $174.92 and last traded at $174.90. 7,744,784 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 30,099,049 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Redburn Atlantic lifted their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target (up previously from $160.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.60.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.45. The stock has a market cap of $2.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total value of $508,150.26. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,685 shares in the company, valued at $22,566,519.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 276,511 shares of company stock valued at $41,234,695. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Meritage Group LP boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1,061.5% in the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 165.8% during the 3rd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 199 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.