Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Short Interest Up 41.0% in April

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Rating) was the target of a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,510,000 shares, an increase of 41.0% from the April 15th total of 1,780,000 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,840,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Several analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Alphabet from $3,500.00 to $3,300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Alphabet from $3,600.00 to $3,400.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 27th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Alphabet from $3,470.00 to $3,510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Alphabet from $3,475.00 to $2,900.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 27th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Alphabet from $3,600.00 to $3,500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,314.08.

In other news, major shareholder 2021 Gp L.L.C. Gv acquired 255,647 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $34.65 per share, with a total value of $8,858,168.55. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 479,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,621,431.75. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 31 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,280.98, for a total value of $70,710.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $604,459.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 550,261 shares of company stock valued at $21,637,779. Corporate insiders own 13.20% of the company’s stock.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the first quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 1,375 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,824,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.3% during the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,956,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.1% during the first quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,740 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,840,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.6% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 227,648 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $633,169,000 after buying an additional 18,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plancorp LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.1% during the first quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 822 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,286,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 41.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $64.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $2,321.01. 1,748,103 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,107,318. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $2,570.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $2,732.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.85, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $2,196.49 and a 52 week high of $3,030.93. The stock has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.13.

Alphabet’s stock is scheduled to split before the market opens on Monday, July 18th. The 20-1 split was announced on Tuesday, February 1st. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Friday, July 15th.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 26th. The information services provider reported $24.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $25.51 by ($0.89). Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.18% and a net margin of 27.57%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $26.29 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 112.62 earnings per share for the current year.

About Alphabet (Get Rating)

Alphabet Inc provides 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 offers products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, hardware, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.

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