Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Up 0.3%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price was up 0.3% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $177.77 and last traded at $177.46. Approximately 4,317,368 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 29,909,582 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Alphabet from $155.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Citigroup raised their price target on Alphabet from $168.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.60.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.05, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $146.20.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.51, for a total transaction of $41,853.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,296,187.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.51, for a total value of $41,853.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,296,187.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total value of $508,150.26. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,566,519.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 205,935 shares of company stock worth $31,178,987 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Burney Co. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Burney Co. now owns 259,784 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $39,209,000 after purchasing an additional 9,293 shares in the last quarter. Orleans Capital Management Corp LA boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Orleans Capital Management Corp LA now owns 15,435 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,330,000 after purchasing an additional 840 shares in the last quarter. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.8% during the 1st quarter. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. now owns 1,450 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 18,310 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,764,000 after buying an additional 911 shares during the period. Finally, BigSur Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 961.5% during the 1st quarter. BigSur Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,040 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,666,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.