Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 0.8%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) traded up 0.8% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $176.16 and last traded at $175.60. 7,676,766 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 30,077,518 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.18.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research raised their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $200.00 price target (up previously from $160.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Alphabet from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Alphabet from $164.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. 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 MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $190.60.

Alphabet Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $156.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.66. The stock has a market cap of $2.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. 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 $66.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly 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. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.22, for a total transaction of $3,897,450.00. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total value of $508,150.26. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,685 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,566,519.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,258,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at $391,132,665.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 276,511 shares of company stock valued at $41,234,695. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Meritage Group LP grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 165.8% in the third quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.