Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Sets New 12-Month High After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $176.42 and last traded at $172.82, with a volume of 16627219 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $157.95.

The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna increased their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James increased their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $159.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. FMR LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 120,234,117 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,852,868,000 after acquiring an additional 4,348,188 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Alphabet by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 95,941,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,649,838,000 after acquiring an additional 9,703,425 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 80,246,520 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,309,370,000 after acquiring an additional 862,550 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,269,184 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,550,942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $4,101,040,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $148.48 and a 200-day moving average of $142.51.

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.