Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 1.2% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price rose 1.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after HSBC raised their price target on the stock from $335.00 to $370.00. HSBC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $321.58 and last traded at $319.63. Approximately 40,072,922 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 9% from the average daily volume of 36,804,047 shares. The stock had previously closed at $315.81.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets set a $294.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $312.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.06, for a total value of $168,036.00. Following the sale, the director owned 4,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,264,750.96. The trade was a 11.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.66, for a total transaction of $32,401.32. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,750,916.64. This represents a 0.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 193,628 shares of company stock valued at $50,942,622. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.4% in the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $271.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $221.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

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.