Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 1.6% Higher – What’s Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price traded up 1.6% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $196.83 and last traded at $195.99. 9,730,847 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 21,257,789 shares. The stock had previously closed at $192.91.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. China Renaissance upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Alphabet from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.15.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.00, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $183.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total value of $234,331.14. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at $4,516,745.58. The trade was a 4.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Sharp Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Sharp Financial Services LLC now owns 5,141 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $973,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,314 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,711,000 after acquiring an additional 1,586 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 43,635 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,632 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Phoenix Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors now owns 3,578 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $677,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.