Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 0.6% – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price was up 0.6% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $195.86 and last traded at $195.75. Approximately 3,856,704 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 27,621,697 shares. The stock had previously closed at $194.63.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Truist Financial increased their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson started coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 price objective (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.69.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $2.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $175.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $171.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total value of $2,780,226.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,280,514.53. The trade was a 27.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 178,257 shares of company stock worth $31,243,187 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 10.8% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $842,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $218,000. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 52.9% in the 2nd quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 4,567 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 1,580 shares in the last quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 16,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,970,000 after buying an additional 996 shares during the period. Finally, Brand Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth approximately $213,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.