Short Interest in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Decreases By 8.2%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) saw a significant drop in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 65,680,000 shares, a drop of 8.2% from the July 15th total of 71,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 24,960,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $1.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $167.88. The company had a trading volume of 6,873,068 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,045,604. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $162.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $120.21 and a 52 week high of $191.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.63, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup increased their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.74.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total transaction of $118,572.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,209,888.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 29,966 shares in the company, valued at $5,209,888.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total value of $266,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $663,107.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,065 shares of company stock valued at $23,051,543 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Alphabet by 75.0% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Denver PWM LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.