Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 0.6% – What’s Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price shot up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $197.25 and last traded at $197.19. 2,502,493 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 19,807,303 shares. The stock had previously closed at $195.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.21, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $176.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $172.94.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. This represents a 4.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 178,257 shares of company stock worth $31,243,187. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. M&G PLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $2,240,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,642,000 after purchasing an additional 14,738 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,488,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292 shares in the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP grew its stake in Alphabet by 172.9% in the third quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,254,000 after purchasing an additional 57,810 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 10.2% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 63,545 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,624,000 after purchasing an additional 5,892 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.