Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 1.7% Higher - Here's Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) shot up 1.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $157.01 and last traded at $157.24. 9,615,416 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 27,319,994 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.64.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group set a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company's 50-day moving average is $176.24 and its 200-day moving average is $176.77.

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Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction 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 approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 87,297 shares of company stock worth $15,936,270. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bennett Selby Investments LP increased its holdings in Alphabet by 4.0% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC grew 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 in the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. grew 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 in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 53 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.