Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Up 2.3% - What's Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 2.3% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $152.24 and last traded at $150.09. Approximately 14,656,423 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 27,746,422 shares. The stock had previously closed at $146.75.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup decreased their target price on Alphabet from $229.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.51.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its stake in Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% in the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

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.