Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) issued its earnings results on Tuesday. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03, Zacks reports. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock traded up $5.07 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $207.71. 24,196,683 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,536,748. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $131.55 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total value of $3,990,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,084,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,672,512.16. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 122,529 shares of company stock valued at $22,453,483. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Pivotal Research boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

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.