Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 0.1% Higher - Here's What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) shares shot up 0.1% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $202.88 and last traded at $198.27. 8,255,733 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 19,660,793 shares. The stock had previously closed at $198.16.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on GOOG. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.5 %

The company has a market cap of $2.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a fifty day moving average of $174.50 and a 200 day moving average of $172.49.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 201,457 shares of company stock worth $34,972,862. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 1ST Source Bank grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 55,309 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $9,247,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 26,962 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,508,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $962,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $9,181,000. Finally, Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $339,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.