Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $161.47, but opened at $167.10. Alphabet shares last traded at $166.53, with a volume of 8,308,246 shares.

The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Scotiabank cut their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup restated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group cut their price target on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.94.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,094,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Harvest Investment Services LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. North Forty Two & Co. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $281,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 140.6% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,734 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,806,000 after purchasing an additional 8,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Requisite Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $927,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.1 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $163.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.34. The company has a market cap of $1.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

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.