Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) traded up 0% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $167.03 and last traded at $166.33. 5,095,949 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 17,770,727 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.28.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $209.13.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Alphabet
Alphabet Stock Performance
The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $184.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.07.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.94%.
Insider Activity at Alphabet
In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,094,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $281,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $19,642,000 after purchasing an additional 14,738 shares during the period. Requisite Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $927,000. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Alphabet by 172.9% in the third quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $15,254,000 after purchasing an additional 57,810 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Alphabet
(
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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.
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