Traders Buy Large Volume of Alphabet Call Options (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 531,129 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 72% compared to the typical volume of 309,498 call options.

Alphabet Stock Down 7.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $15.68 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $190.70. 40,884,626 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,522,469. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $130.66 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.28, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $190.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.40.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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 predict that Alphabet will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,195.20. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 100,029 shares of company stock worth $18,462,883. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd now owns 9,209 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,747 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,467,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Financial Security Advisor Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 39,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,393,000 after buying an additional 2,794 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC now owns 12,790 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,421,000 after acquiring an additional 1,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sentinel Trust Co. LBA lifted its position in Alphabet by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Sentinel Trust Co. LBA now owns 6,925 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,311,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.95.

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.