Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 0.4%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price shot up 0.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $164.71 and last traded at $163.83. 5,652,409 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 20,008,590 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.24.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Three investment 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.86.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $166.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total value of $600,175.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,655.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 202,667 shares of company stock valued at $33,964,256 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.6% during the second quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 29.5% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 18,814 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,451,000 after purchasing an additional 4,285 shares during the period. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 23,470 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,304,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $268,000. Finally, Brightwater Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $444,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% 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.