Alphabet Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 531,129 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 72% compared to the average daily volume of 309,498 call options.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $191.33 on Thursday. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $130.66 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $190.39 and a 200 day moving average of $174.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.38, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Wedbush increased their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 83.9% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 32,382 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,130,000 after buying an additional 14,775 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 55,382 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,484,000 after acquiring an additional 1,733 shares during the last quarter. IFG Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. IFG Advisors LLC now owns 13,045 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,469,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 64,618 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,358,000 after purchasing an additional 12,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maia Wealth LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 32,418 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,218,000 after purchasing an additional 3,768 shares during the last quarter. 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.