Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Alphabet's stock opened at $226.48, up from a previous close of $211.99, signaling a strong market reaction ahead of its earnings report, which showed a net margin of 31.12% and a quarterly revenue increase of 13.8% year-over-year.
• Analysts are optimistic, with several price targets raised; Goldman Sachs rates it as a "buy" with a target of $220, while Oppenheimer raised theirs to $235.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which represents an annual yield of 0.4%, showcasing its financial stability.

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after Pivotal Research raised their price target on the stock from $245.00 to $300.00. The stock had previously closed at $211.99, but opened at $226.48. Pivotal Research currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alphabet shares last traded at $230.20, with a volume of 14,754,635 shares traded.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $227.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,383,200. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $96,465,000 after acquiring an additional 20,855 shares during the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 12,839 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,445,000 after acquiring an additional 894 shares during the last quarter. Greenline Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Greenline Partners LLC now owns 53,298 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,150,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 54,455 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,370,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company's 50-day moving average is $196.65 and its 200-day moving average is $176.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.04, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

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.