Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 1.4% Higher

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) shares were up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $174.92 and last traded at $174.90. 7,744,784 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 30,099,049 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Alphabet from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Alphabet from $164.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $200.00 price target (up previously from $160.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $190.60.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The firm's 50-day moving average price is $156.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15. The company has a market cap of $2.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.71, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.57 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.22, for a total value of $3,897,450.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,258,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $391,132,665.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.22, for a total value of $3,897,450.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,258,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $391,132,665.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.08, for a total value of $252,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,391 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $738,039.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 276,511 shares of company stock valued at $41,234,695. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 497,874,324 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $75,144,172,000 after buying an additional 4,064,073 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $29,746,764,000 after acquiring an additional 12,070,681 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $15,441,917,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Alphabet by 3.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,684,197 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,857,154,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416,328 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Alphabet by 14.4% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,724,251,000 after purchasing an additional 7,275,757 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.