Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 1.3% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Alphabet's stock rose 1.3% on Friday, closing at $205.48, with significant trading volume of over 10.5 million shares despite a 71% decrease from its average daily volume.
• A number of analysts have upgraded their ratings on Alphabet, with price targets ranging from $191 to $220, and an average target price of $211.53.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, to be paid on September 15, representing an annual yield of 0.4% with a dividend payout ratio of 8.95%.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) shares rose 1.3% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $206.44 and last traded at $205.48. Approximately 10,518,167 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 36,505,754 shares. The stock had previously closed at $202.94.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Alphabet from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Westpark Capital raised their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Roth Capital raised their price target on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.5%

The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $183.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96,428,000 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 274,819 shares of company stock worth $49,796,547. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $9,490,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $20,886,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 29,100 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 73,282 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,873,000 after purchasing an additional 13,564 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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