Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 2.7% on Earnings Beat

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shot up 2.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $207.77 and last traded at $208.15. 6,007,736 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 15,733,622 shares. The stock had previously closed at $202.64.

The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOOG. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total transaction of $3,975,075.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business’s fifty day moving average is $192.33 and its 200-day moving average is $176.03.

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.