Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 0.1% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price was up 0.1% on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $212.00 to $232.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $197.00 and last traded at $195.63. Approximately 6,022,806 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 27,445,670 shares. The stock had previously closed at $195.42.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. China Renaissance upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.69.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $115,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,824 shares in the company, valued at $4,590,960. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total transaction of $2,780,226.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,280,514.53. This represents a 27.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 178,957 shares of company stock worth $31,358,687. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $842,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $218,000. Archford Capital Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 32,844 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,983,000 after buying an additional 1,417 shares in the last quarter. Welch Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the second quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 53,369 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,721,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% in the second quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 47,515 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,655,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $173.46 and a 200-day moving average of $171.09.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

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.