Alphabet Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 328,237 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 54% compared to the typical volume of 213,740 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $222.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.76.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $157.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $191.75. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.49. The company has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $125,126.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at $5,623,355.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total value of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,824 shares in the company, valued at $5,728,640.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total transaction of $125,126.54. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 179,367 shares of company stock worth $30,016,931 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 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.