Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 2.9% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shot up 2.9% during trading on Monday after Wedbush raised their price target on the stock from $210.00 to $220.00. Wedbush currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $198.22 and last traded at $197.37. 9,335,889 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 15,814,833 shares. The stock had previously closed at $191.79.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on GOOGL. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities cut Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.82.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total transaction 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 155,887 shares of company stock worth $27,996,356 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $66,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $181.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $172.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 company earned $1.55 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.