Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 0.7%

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) were up 0.7% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $164.73 and last traded at $163.42. Approximately 3,912,340 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 28,045,447 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GOOGL. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James raised their target price on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $220.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.74.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $176.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $162.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total value of $118,572.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,209,888.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total transaction of $118,572.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,966 shares in the company, valued at $5,209,888.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total value of $266,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $663,107.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 121,608 shares of company stock valued at $21,263,304 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Phillips Financial Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC now owns 5,877 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $821,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,086 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 365,851 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $51,106,000 after buying an additional 24,365 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 65,205 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,108,000 after buying an additional 3,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 7,793 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. 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.