Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Up 1.6% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price traded up 1.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $203.84 and last traded at $200.68. 5,869,727 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 15,193,589 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target for the company. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.99. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $186.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.83.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value 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 represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at $3,468,029.04. This represents a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 90,821 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,296,000 after purchasing an additional 2,654 shares in the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 2,759 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 879 shares during the period. Running Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 83,414 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,885,000 after acquiring an additional 2,763 shares during the period. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 560.3% during the fourth quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 9,172 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,747,000 after buying an additional 7,783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grange Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $712,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.