Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 1% Higher – Here’s Why

by · The Markets Daily

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG – Get Free Report) traded up 1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $318.71 and last traded at $317.75. 14,097,887 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 23,844,416 shares. The stock had previously closed at $314.45.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Alphabet from $250.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. HSBC restated a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. DA Davidson set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.54.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Alphabet

Alphabet Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The business’s 50 day moving average is $282.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $228.96.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,635,348.70. This trade represents a 29.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total transaction of $694,638.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,629,725.80. The trade was a 16.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 228,906 shares of company stock worth $62,127,158. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 416,753,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $73,927,821,000 after purchasing an additional 5,182,111 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Alphabet by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 188,914,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $33,511,477,000 after buying an additional 2,428,266 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 580,897.4% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 135,087,705 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $23,963,208,000 after buying an additional 135,064,454 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 107,760,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,022,926,000 after acquiring an additional 441,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 8.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,240,469,000 after acquiring an additional 7,904,434 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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