Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 0.6% Higher

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) shares traded up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $157.92 and last traded at $157.80. 3,994,063 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 22,088,027 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.88.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $159.86.

Alphabet Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.61. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $85.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,326,922.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 61,587.1% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 130,046,253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $11,539,004,000 after purchasing an additional 129,835,437 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1,807.4% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 57,069,444 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,487,226,000 after acquiring an additional 54,077,519 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $3,059,614,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 37.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 71,779,112 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,368,961,000 after acquiring an additional 19,612,974 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 95,941,129 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,649,838,000 after acquiring an additional 9,703,425 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.