Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 1.1% on Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) rose 1.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $212.00 to $232.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $193.03 and last traded at $190.51. Approximately 8,848,702 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 27,480,695 shares. The stock had previously closed at $188.40.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Pivotal Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. China Renaissance upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $115,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,590,960. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 178,957 shares of company stock worth $31,358,687 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 1,655 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,663 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $607,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. MKT Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the third quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 7,363 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 19.0% in the third quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

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 firm has a market cap of $2.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $171.09.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio 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.