Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 0.7% Higher

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price traded up 0.7% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $152.25 and last traded at $150.62. 5,999,789 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 20,139,270 shares. The stock had previously closed at $149.54.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOOG. Wolfe Research raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Rosenblatt Securities cut Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, June 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.86.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $170.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $165.90. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total transaction of $3,991,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,213,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $392,588,151.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total transaction of $125,126.54. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,623,355.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total value of $3,991,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,213,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $392,588,151.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 201,867 shares of company stock worth $34,218,581. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.7% in the second quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,985 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV grew its position in Alphabet by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 3,636 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $667,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV raised its position in Alphabet by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 2,944 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 11.1% in the first quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 600 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.