Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 1.6%

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) rose 1.6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $179.78 and last traded at $179.09. Approximately 14,542,587 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 28,663,992 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.26.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15. The company has a market capitalization of $2.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.55, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $170.05 and a 200 day moving average of $152.56.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.67, for a total value of $3,502,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,325,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,012,608.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.67, for a total value of $3,502,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,325,513 shares in the company, valued at $362,012,608.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total transaction of $105,566.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,870.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,958 shares of company stock valued at $22,383,553 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Meritage Group LP grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 59.2% in the 1st quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 293 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. 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.