Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 0.9% Higher

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price traded up 0.9% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $159.99 and last traded at $159.52. 4,879,197 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 27,596,596 shares. The stock had previously closed at $158.06.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, August 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $222.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $196.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.08.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.13.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total value of $600,175.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,655.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 180,167 shares of company stock worth $29,762,606. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. 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.