Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 1.5%

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) shot up 1.5% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $172.87 and last traded at $172.40. 7,821,905 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 22,578,598 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.83.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $165.67.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.53, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business has a fifty day moving average of $152.74 and a 200 day moving average of $144.21.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.38. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.66 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a -- dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.51, for a total transaction of $41,853.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,296,187.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 682 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total value of $93,086.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 28,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,903,886.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.51, for a total transaction of $41,853.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,291 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,296,187.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 275,129 shares of company stock valued at $40,382,765 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the first quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 8,609 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,393 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $517,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.0% in the first quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC now owns 3,223 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Biechele Royce Advisors boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.0% in the first quarter. Biechele Royce Advisors now owns 2,260 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the first quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 4,867 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $762,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by 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.