Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Up 2.3% Following Earnings Beat

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price was up 2.3% during trading on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $166.10 and last traded at $163.02. Approximately 24,854,276 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 13% from the average daily volume of 28,433,132 shares. The stock had previously closed at $159.28.

The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Ten investment 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 stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $198.63.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at $50,376,238.74. The trade was a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. This trade represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,871,384,000 after purchasing an additional 337,031 shares during the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 38.0% during the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 4,700 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 37,379 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,199,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.0% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,306 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Alphabet by 19.2% during the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 137,669 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,703,000 after buying an additional 22,169 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.7 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $1.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $162.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.52.

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.