Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 2.9% After Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was up 2.9% on Monday after Wolfe Research raised their price target on the stock from $220.00 to $230.00. Wolfe Research currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $198.22 and last traded at $197.37. Approximately 9,335,889 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 15,814,833 shares. The stock had previously closed at $191.79.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Nine 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,406,343.27. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,342,143.80. This trade represents a 5.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 155,887 shares of company stock worth $27,996,356 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Schear Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 17.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 4,905 shares during the period. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% in the third 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 during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its stake 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 worth $4,192,000 after buying an additional 5,516 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc boosted 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 worth $1,037,196,000 after buying an additional 611,233 shares during the period. Finally, StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% in 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 buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $180.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $172.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. 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.