Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 0.6% After Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) rose 0.6% on Tuesday after Wedbush raised their price target on the stock from $210.00 to $220.00. Wedbush currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $201.00 and last traded at $198.02. Approximately 9,855,296 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 19,118,453 shares. The stock had previously closed at $196.87.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson started coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total value of $247,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,342,143.80. The trade was a 5.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 155,887 shares of company stock worth $27,996,356. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Denver PWM LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 1,655 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,663 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $607,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. MKT Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the third quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 7,363 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 19.0% in the third quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.26, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s fifty day moving average is $180.84 and its 200 day moving average is $172.60. 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:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 10.61%.

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.