Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 0.6% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Wedbush raised their price target on the stock from $210.00 to $220.00. Wedbush currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $201.00 and last traded at $198.02. Approximately 9,855,296 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 19,118,453 shares. The stock had previously closed at $196.87.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on GOOGL. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total value of $473,929.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,406,343.27. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 155,887 shares of company stock worth $27,996,356 in the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. now owns 28,733 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,439,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 3,085 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $584,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. One Wealth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $1,753,000. Norway Savings Bank increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 34,514 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,534,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strathmore Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $353,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.7 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $181.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $172.72. The stock has a market cap of $2.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

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.