Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 1.2% Higher

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $161.59 and last traded at $160.93. Approximately 4,015,537 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 20,071,459 shares. The stock had previously closed at $158.99.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GOOG. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.86.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $1.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s fifty day moving average is $168.43 and its 200 day moving average is $166.48.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total transaction of $3,991,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,213,011 shares in the company, valued at $392,588,151.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total transaction of $125,126.54. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at $5,623,355.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total transaction of $3,991,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,213,011 shares in the company, valued at $392,588,151.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 202,667 shares of company stock worth $34,341,581 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth $37,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.