Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Up 2.8% - Here's What Happened

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 2.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $165.65 and last traded at $165.44. Approximately 8,152,686 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 19,548,263 shares. The stock had previously closed at $160.89.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup restated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.94.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.6%

The company has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.77.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 179,324 shares of company stock valued at $30,153,353. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

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.