Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 2.9% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Alphabet's stock price increased by 2.9% during trading, reaching a last recorded price of $202.20, while the trading volume significantly decreased by 61% compared to its average.
• Recent analyst upgrades raised Alphabet's price targets, with estimates now ranging from $191.00 to $240.00, and the consensus rating is currently a "Moderate Buy."
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with investors of record set to receive payments on September 15th, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.4%.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 2.9% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $201.64 and last traded at $202.20. 14,339,934 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 36,759,723 shares. The stock had previously closed at $196.52.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Alphabet from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.3%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $2.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. The business's fifty day moving average is $180.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.13.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total transaction of $6,377,475.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,494,892 shares in the company, valued at $489,572,657.16. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 273,219 shares of company stock worth $49,474,273. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 3.7% during the second quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 413,701 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $72,907,000 after buying an additional 14,816 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the second quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 57,708 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,170,000 after buying an additional 1,628 shares during the last quarter. WP Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 5,057 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $891,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 123,906 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $21,836,000 after acquiring an additional 6,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ignite Planners LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 24,143 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,468,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% 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.

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