Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 1.4% Higher – What’s Next?
by Tristan Rich · The Markets DailyAlphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report)’s share price shot up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $300.62 and last traded at $299.99. 15,809,406 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 34,012,340 shares. The stock had previously closed at $295.77.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Bank of America raised their target price on Alphabet from $335.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Alphabet from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $415.00 price target on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $367.33.
View Our Latest Analysis on Alphabet
Alphabet Stock Performance
The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $309.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $296.92.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.
Alphabet Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 7.77%.
Insider Activity at Alphabet
In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.41, for a total transaction of $318,580.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,631 shares in the company, valued at $1,405,091.71. The trade was a 18.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares in the company, valued at $505,573,853.40. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 2,101,844 shares of company stock worth $115,147,751 over the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional Trading of Alphabet
A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $52,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Alphabet
Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.
Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.