Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 2.6% - Here's Why

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) shares traded up 2.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $173.84 and last traded at $172.64. 10,385,197 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 30,039,334 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.21.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

Alphabet Price Performance

The firm's 50-day moving average is $160.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.35. The company has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.58, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 period. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.