Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 0.9% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price traded up 0.9% on Friday . The company traded as high as $164.80 and last traded at $164.59. 2,443,655 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 19,750,299 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.18.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Friday. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Alphabet from $204.00 to $187.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.90.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $162.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,264,112. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,264,112. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total transaction of $3,442,233.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 216,092 shares of company stock valued at $35,644,136. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 0.7% during the second quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,985 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV increased its position in Alphabet by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 3,636 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% in the second quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 2,944 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 11.1% during the first quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 600 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% 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.