Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 0.1%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) rose 0.1% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $161.31 and last traded at $160.50. Approximately 2,723,918 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 20,024,057 shares. The stock had previously closed at $160.28.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Rosenblatt Securities cut Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 28th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.86.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.1 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $167.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $84.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total transaction of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,765,346. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.75, for a total transaction of $123,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 28,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,385,565. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares in the company, valued at $50,765,346. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 202,667 shares of company stock valued at $34,341,581. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth approximately $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.