Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 1.3%

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) traded up 1.3% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $154.42 and last traded at $153.11. 8,286,592 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 27,645,068 shares. The stock had previously closed at $151.16.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $222.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Mizuho increased their price target 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. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $206.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.76.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.15, a price-to-earnings-growth 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $167.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.49.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at $5,623,355.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $125,126.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 30,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,623,355.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 179,367 shares of company stock valued at $30,016,931 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.