Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 0.6% – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares shot up 0.6% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $167.47 and last traded at $166.85. 2,999,101 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 19,493,498 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.80.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Wolfe Research raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $187.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Pivotal Research initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of 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 assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.90.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $163.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.86. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total value of $3,741,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,106,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $350,361,837.80. This trade represents 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 shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total transaction of $114,576.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,264,112. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total transaction of $3,741,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,106,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $350,361,837.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 220,426 shares of company stock worth $35,993,340. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lane & Associates LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Lane & Associates LLC now owns 1,728 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank increased its position in Alphabet by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 921 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 4.2% in the first quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 3,692 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $562,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,866,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 4.6% in the first quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 56,592 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,547,000 after acquiring an additional 2,491 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.