Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 3.4% After Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was up 3.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday 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 $176.56 and last traded at $175.53. Approximately 12,031,002 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 27,106,762 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.74.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on GOOGL. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. China Renaissance raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.90.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 232,052 shares of company stock worth $38,424,448. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $41,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 59.2% during the first quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 293 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $162.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.36.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.