Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 1.3% Higher - What's Next?

Key Points

• Alphabet's stock (NASDAQ:GOOG) increased by 1.3%, closing at $206.46 after trading as high as $207.33.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with 17 buy ratings, 6 hold ratings, and 3 sell ratings, leading to an average target price of $215.19.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, set to be paid on September 15th, which represents an annualized yield of 0.4%.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) traded up 1.3% on Friday . The company traded as high as $207.33 and last traded at $206.46. 6,997,705 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 23,903,000 shares. The stock had previously closed at $203.82.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $184.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.82. 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 cap of $2.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.06, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 274,819 shares of company stock valued at $49,796,547 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimension Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimension Capital Management LLC now owns 13,968 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,478,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Challenger Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Challenger Wealth Management now owns 1,335 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. REDW Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. REDW Wealth LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. GDS Wealth Management boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.4% in the second quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 2,325 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $412,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ACT Advisors LLC. boosted its position in Alphabet by 3.5% in the second quarter. ACT Advisors LLC. now owns 1,625 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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