Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 1.7% Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 1.7% during trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $158.20 and last traded at $157.98. Approximately 8,558,997 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 28,271,436 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.35.

The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 EPS.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $178.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bennett Selby Investments LP increased its stake in Alphabet by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Macroview Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,425,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. 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 company's fifty day simple moving average is $162.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.52.

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.