Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 1.5% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares traded up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $172.52 and last traded at $172.42. 3,584,410 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 17,844,933 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.93.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $182.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.36. The firm has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $966,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently 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.