Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 0% Following Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price traded up 0% on Thursday after China Renaissance upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The company traded as high as $176.78 and last traded at $174.49. 9,735,005 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 27,058,566 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.46.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on GOOGL. Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.51.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total transaction of $3,741,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,106,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $350,361,837.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 220,426 shares of company stock worth $35,993,340. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dechtman Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dechtman Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,588 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $595,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Spinnaker Trust boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% in the third quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 44,686 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,411,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. CV Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. CV Advisors LLC now owns 54,714 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,353 shares during the last quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.4% in the third quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 23,997 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,980,000 after buying an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.3% in the third quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.3 %

The company’s 50-day moving average is $162.17 and its 200-day moving average is $168.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market cap of $2.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.27%.

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.