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

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $159.28, but opened at $165.07. Alphabet shares last traded at $164.60, with a volume of 14,502,789 shares traded.

The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of several analyst reports. DZ Bank downgraded Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $198.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. This trade represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after acquiring an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 16,993.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,062,457 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,483,898,000 after purchasing an additional 15,968,487 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after buying an additional 10,135,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after buying an additional 10,037,685 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $1.95 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $161.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.60.

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.