Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 0.9%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) traded up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $159.99 and last traded at $159.52. 4,879,197 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 27,596,596 shares. The stock had previously closed at $158.06.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Eight 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.08.

Alphabet Stock Performance

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’s 50-day simple moving average is $165.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $165.13. The stock has a market cap of $1.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,421,948.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total transaction of $3,614,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,114,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,713,977.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 180,167 shares of company stock valued at $29,762,606. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% during the second quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.8% during the second quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the first quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC now owns 6,624 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the second quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 6,309 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,149,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.