Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 1.6% - Here's Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) shot up 1.6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $196.83 and last traded at $195.99. 9,730,847 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 21,257,789 shares. The stock had previously closed at $192.91.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and set a $217.00 price objective (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, China Renaissance upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.15.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.6 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a fifty day moving average of $184.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.33.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $220,000. New Century Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 43.4% in the 4th quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 20,348 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,902,000 after purchasing an additional 6,160 shares during the last quarter. FCG Investment Co increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 30,369 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,632 shares in the last quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,834 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,051,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. now owns 2,982 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.