Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 1.5% – Here’s What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was up 1.5% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $172.52 and last traded at $172.42. Approximately 3,584,410 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 17,844,933 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $183.93 and a 200 day moving average of $178.30.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $206,000. Prostatis Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Prostatis Group LLC now owns 2,167 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $413,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Nestegg Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $218,000. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,659,000. Finally, M1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $400,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.