Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 1.9%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was up 1.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $164.99 and last traded at $163.88. Approximately 4,878,649 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 20,013,100 shares. The stock had previously closed at $160.81.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 28th. DA Davidson raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.86.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.9 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $166.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.79. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.25, a PEG 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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total value of $3,614,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,114,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total value of $3,614,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,114,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 202,667 shares of company stock valued at $33,964,256. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,355,724,000 after acquiring an additional 7,470,042 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Alphabet by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 84,171,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,815,986,000 after purchasing an additional 13,876,534 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 45,731,826 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,963,128,000 after buying an additional 979,083 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 35,558,778 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,414,179,000 after buying an additional 684,968 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 28,558,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,024,679,000 after buying an additional 813,428 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by 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.