Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $240.59 and last traded at $239.94, with a volume of 22727434 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $234.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Pivotal Research upped their target price on Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $201.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $558,219,089.16. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Milestones Private Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $214,000. WT Wealth Management raised its stake in Alphabet by 3.9% during the second quarter. WT Wealth Management now owns 42,267 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,498,000 after buying an additional 1,578 shares during the last quarter. NWF Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 3.4% during the second quarter. NWF Advisory Services Inc. now owns 81,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,416,000 after buying an additional 2,682 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth $421,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.6% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,355,836 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $240,204,000 after acquiring an additional 107,399 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently 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.