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

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shot up 0.6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $176.73 and last traded at $176.00. 5,172,560 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 18,564,904 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.99.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $190.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.91. The company has a market cap of $2.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.67, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. This trade represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,316 shares of company stock worth $25,062,887 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.