Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 5.6% Following Earnings Beat

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price shot up 5.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $183.79 and last traded at $180.75. 23,547,564 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 21% from the average session volume of 19,519,238 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.14.

The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,264,112. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total transaction of $114,576.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at $5,264,112. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total value of $3,652,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,182,385 shares in the company, valued at $354,310,204.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 220,426 shares of company stock valued at $35,993,340 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Alphabet by 19.7% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 84,171,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,815,986,000 after purchasing an additional 13,876,534 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $1,378,708,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,355,724,000 after acquiring an additional 7,470,042 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Alphabet by 65.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,294,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,052,349,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500,621 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Alphabet by 51.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,416,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $976,923,000 after acquiring an additional 2,190,795 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 5.6 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $163.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.04.

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.