Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 2.1% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was up 2.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $205.02 and last traded at $205.03. Approximately 7,625,077 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 23,771,451 shares. The stock had previously closed at $200.87.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.82.

Alphabet Stock Performance

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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $188.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.03. The company has a market cap of $2.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.98.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,468,029.04. The trade was a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 121,630 shares of company stock valued at $22,258,133. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Denver PWM LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.