Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 1.1% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Alphabet's stock increased by 1.1% after JMP Securities upgraded its price target from $250.00 to $290.00, and other firms have also raised their target prices recently.
• Insider trades showed significant selling activity, with the CAO and CEO selling a combined total of over $8.7 million in shares.
• Alphabet's recent quarterly earnings surpassed expectations with a revenue of $96.43 billion and an earnings per share of $2.31.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Friday after JMP Securities raised their price target on the stock from $250.00 to $290.00. JMP Securities currently has a market outperform rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $256.00 and last traded at $254.72. Approximately 55,394,786 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 50% from the average daily volume of 36,833,996 shares. The stock had previously closed at $252.03.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on GOOGL. Citigroup lifted their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.54.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,236,785. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.50, for a total transaction of $8,108,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,397,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $598,149,304. The trade was a 1.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock worth $52,405,304 in the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $207.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.73. The company has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.13, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

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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