Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Reaches New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $199.50 and last traded at $198.54, with a volume of 3368468 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $196.66.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Pivotal Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.69.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $173.46 and its 200-day moving average is $171.09. The firm has a market cap of $2.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 178,957 shares of company stock valued at $31,358,687 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 43,005.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,086,250,000 after acquiring an additional 18,700,111 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 587.4% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,690,326 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,772,991,000 after buying an additional 9,135,056 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 116.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,670,225 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,437,957,000 after buying an additional 4,662,809 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 18,810.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,434,260 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $807,700,000 after buying an additional 4,410,811 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Alphabet by 91.0% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 7,928,470 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,450,599,000 after acquiring an additional 3,777,527 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.