Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Up 2.1%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price traded up 2.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $164.79 and last traded at $163.87. 5,118,421 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 20,594,260 shares. The stock had previously closed at $160.54.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, June 28th. Wolfe Research upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $182.86.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $163.21.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total transaction of $118,572.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,966 shares in the company, valued at $5,209,888.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.22, for a total value of $3,897,450.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,258,011 shares in the company, valued at $391,132,665.42. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total value of $118,572.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,966 shares in the company, valued at $5,209,888.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 122,308 shares of company stock worth $21,933,775. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,985 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 3,636 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $667,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 2,944 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $540,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 600 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.