Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 0.8% – What’s Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price shot up 0.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $197.67 and last traded at $197.57. 6,809,823 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 19,826,523 shares. The stock had previously closed at $195.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $178.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.43.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.07, for a total transaction of $3,759,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,129,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $355,743,153.42. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total transaction of $473,929.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 26,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,406,343.27. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 161,455 shares of company stock valued at $28,462,960 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently 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.