Alphabet Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors acquired 631,804 call options on the company. This is an increase of 73% compared to the average daily volume of 365,513 call options.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Wedbush set a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $198.89.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded down $0.45 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $160.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 26,767,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,290,207. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The stock has a market cap of $1.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a fifty day moving average of $161.69 and a 200-day moving average of $175.60.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

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.