Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 2.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) shares traded up 2.5% on Wednesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $203.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $171.78 and last traded at $170.89. 14,017,412 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 30,721,054 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.77.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $200.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total transaction of $32,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,232,544.70. This trade represents a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 228,070 shares of company stock valued at $37,745,632. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.11, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50-day moving average is $165.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

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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