Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Sets New 12-Month High After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $176.42 and last traded at $172.82, with a volume of 16627219 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $157.95.

The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GOOG. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $159.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,903,886.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $4,101,040,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Alphabet by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 95,941,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,649,838,000 after purchasing an additional 9,703,425 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $11,600,970,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 120,234,117 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,852,868,000 after purchasing an additional 4,348,188 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 198.7% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,882,882 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $547,215,000 after purchasing an additional 2,583,128 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 9.1 %

The business’s 50-day moving average is $148.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.51. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.20, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.05.

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.