Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Up 0.6%

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1 %

The business has a fifty day moving average of $147.46 and a 200 day moving average of $141.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $85.28 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at $4,009,032.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Veracity Capital LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 10,597 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,173 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 6,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $859,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank grew its position in Alphabet by 33.0% in the third quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 7,359 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,826 shares in the last quarter. CNB Bank increased its stake in Alphabet by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 27,723 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,655,000 after buying an additional 1,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 8,238 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,086,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.