Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Up 0.8% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) were up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $197.67 and last traded at $197.57. Approximately 6,809,823 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 19,826,523 shares. The stock had previously closed at $195.99.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.20, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50 day moving average of $177.35 and a 200-day moving average of $173.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. This represents a 4.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 178,257 shares of company stock valued at $31,243,187. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 87.3% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.