Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Alphabet Call Options (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders purchased 524,894 call options on the stock. Thisisanincreaseof19% compared to the typical daily volume of 441,129 call options.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $201.42 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $180.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.15. The company has a market cap of $2.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.45, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. BNP Paribas Exane restated a “neutral” rating and set a $172.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.53.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 273,219 shares of company stock valued at $49,474,273. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by 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.