Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 0.9% Higher – What’s Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price was up 0.9% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $174.20 and last traded at $174.08. Approximately 4,489,808 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 27,038,992 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.49.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 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 assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

Alphabet Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $166.74 and its 200-day moving average is $170.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The company has a market capitalization of $2.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total transaction of $3,990,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,084,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,672,512.16. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 184,295 shares of company stock valued at $30,698,791. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $630,000. Unigestion Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 550.1% in the 3rd quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 92,199 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,291,000 after purchasing an additional 78,017 shares during the period. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 43,897 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,280,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 86,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,285,000 after purchasing an additional 13,642 shares during the period. Finally, Fortem Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 93.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 17,080 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,833,000 after purchasing an additional 8,242 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.