Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Up 3.5% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) were up 3.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $303.92 and last traded at $299.66. Approximately 73,068,201 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 101% from the average daily volume of 36,314,613 shares. The stock had previously closed at $289.45.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Alphabet from $260.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $224.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $306.00 price objective (up previously from $255.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.33.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $261.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $212.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 8.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.80, for a total value of $32,681.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,253,567.20. The trade was a 0.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total value of $9,213,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,337,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $662,526,494.12. The trade was a 1.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 192,674 shares of company stock worth $48,454,423 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Mystic Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% during the first quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 88,187 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,637,000 after purchasing an additional 13,371 shares in the last quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the first quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC now owns 7,646 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Moment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% in the second quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,039,000 after buying an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 4.0% during the second quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 64,262 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,325,000 after acquiring an additional 2,467 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.