Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 0.1% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $165.00 and last traded at $165.20. Approximately 7,713,905 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 17,786,701 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.05.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank raised their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.0 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $184.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after acquiring an additional 264,962 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 7.2% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,526 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 210,657 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,220,000 after purchasing an additional 2,151 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 591,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $98,809,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 26.5% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 821,450 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $137,338,000 after buying an additional 172,077 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently 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.