Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 0% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) traded up 0% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $196.33 and last traded at $196.17. 3,427,217 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 27,552,244 shares. The stock had previously closed at $196.11.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.69.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company’s 50-day moving average is $177.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total value of $247,425.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,342,143.80. This represents a 5.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 161,455 shares of company stock worth $28,462,960 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in Alphabet by 75.0% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $53,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.