Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 0.2% - Here's What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $164.89 and last traded at $164.19. Approximately 6,021,487 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 25,746,461 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.89.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $210.59.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $182.57 and a 200-day moving average of $176.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS 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 paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 in the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in Alphabet by 6.8% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 728,575 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $120,834,000 after purchasing an additional 46,677 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 3.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,871,384,000 after purchasing an additional 337,031 shares in the last quarter. Holistic Planning LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Holistic Planning LLC now owns 10,895 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 1,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Provident Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 3,476,456 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $576,570,000 after purchasing an additional 36,190 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.