Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 4% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) rose 4% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $193.70 and last traded at $192.49. Approximately 25,640,477 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 6% from the average daily volume of 27,189,373 shares. The stock had previously closed at $185.17.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.03.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $170.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.28.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total value of $3,614,175.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,114,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. This represents a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 197,923 shares of company stock valued at $34,244,676 in the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in Alphabet by 75.0% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.