Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 0.3%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares traded up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $163.66 and last traded at $162.68. 7,326,509 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 27,545,156 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOGL. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Securities upped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.08.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.3 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $165.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.11.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 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. 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 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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 stock was sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total transaction of $125,126.54. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,623,355.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, 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 transaction of $125,126.54. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,623,355.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total transaction of $600,175.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,655.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 180,167 shares of company stock worth $29,762,606. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 62,657 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,413,000 after acquiring an additional 1,705 shares in the last quarter. American Trust grew its stake in Alphabet by 11.1% in the second quarter. American Trust now owns 9,543 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,738,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares in the last quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $208,000. Brightwater Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $426,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,792,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.