Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) were up 1% on Thursday after Loop Capital raised their price target on the stock from $170.00 to $185.00. Loop Capital currently has a hold rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $179.21 and last traded at $178.32. Approximately 5,249,243 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 27,105,869 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.51.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Scotiabank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.03, for a total transaction of $130,424.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,894,812.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total transaction of $5,570,188.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 312,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,765,346. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.03, for a total value of $130,424.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,894,812.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 232,052 shares of company stock worth $38,424,448. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 3.6% during the second quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Hengehold Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 1,655 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cutler Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.7% in the third quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,663 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.3 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $162.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

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.