Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Up 1.8%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was up 1.8% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $166.88 and last traded at $166.85. Approximately 3,819,884 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 20,066,086 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.83.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. DA Davidson raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 28th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.29.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $164.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.59. The company has a market cap of $2.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.74, for a total value of $4,201,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,227,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $415,941,874.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $125,126.54. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 203,367 shares of company stock valued at $34,079,756 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.