Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 0.8% – Here’s Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares shot up 0.8% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $183.12 and last traded at $181.06. 9,979,999 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 26,951,625 shares. The stock had previously closed at $179.66.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. DZ Bank cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.46, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $191.72 and a 200 day moving average of $176.14.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

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 given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,299 shares of company stock worth $25,055,751 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.