Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 0.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares rose 0.3% on Friday after DA Davidson raised their price target on the stock from $190.00 to $200.00. DA Davidson currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $200.26 and last traded at $198.64. Approximately 5,272,042 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 22,702,318 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.98.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on GOOGL. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. China Renaissance upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.44.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total transaction of $3,990,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,084,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,672,512.16. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Schear Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 33,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,598,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares in the last quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 25,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,516 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 6,305,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,037,196,000 after purchasing an additional 611,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,509 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,567,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $185.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

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.