Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $230.00 to $265.00. The stock had previously closed at $211.35, but opened at $226.21. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Alphabet shares last traded at $229.74, with a volume of 21,080,804 shares changing hands.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on GOOGL. BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 target price (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Citigroup upped their price target on Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.66.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,383,200. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 222,210 shares of company stock valued at $41,742,155 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 7.6%

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $192.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

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.