Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 0.5%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was up 0.5% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $164.25 and last traded at $163.82. Approximately 3,280,320 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 20,113,316 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.07.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.86.

Alphabet Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company’s 50 day moving average is $165.76 and its 200 day moving average is $167.46.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,655.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 202,667 shares of company stock worth $33,964,256. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 111.0% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 69,259 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,704,000 after acquiring an additional 36,439 shares during the last quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 9.6% in the second quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 29.5% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 18,814 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,451,000 after purchasing an additional 4,285 shares during the last quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 23,470 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,304,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $268,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.