Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 0.7% – What’s Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) rose 0.7% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $202.14 and last traded at $199.32. Approximately 6,036,099 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 13,688,532 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.17, a PEG ratio of 1.34 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $182.36 and a 200 day moving average of $174.11.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. 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 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total transaction of $3,741,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,106,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $350,361,837.80. This trade represents a 1.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total value of $473,929.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,406,343.27. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 155,887 shares of company stock worth $27,996,356 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sunburst Financial Group LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC now owns 2,959 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the third quarter. Johnson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Phillips Financial Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% during the third quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,674 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Hutchinson Capital Management CA raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hutchinson Capital Management CA now owns 3,492 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $641,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.