Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 9.4% Higher Following Earnings Beat

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares rose 9.4% on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $176.42 and last traded at $172.87. Approximately 26,842,165 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 21% from the average daily volume of 22,242,641 shares. The stock had previously closed at $157.95.

The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business’s revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.67.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,402.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at $243,854,485.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 253,439 shares of company stock worth $36,746,578 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Partnership Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Buck Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 10.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.64, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.77.

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.