Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 2.5% Higher After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price traded up 2.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $291.59 and last traded at $281.48. 74,166,218 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 106% from the average session volume of 36,014,051 shares. The stock had previously closed at $274.57.

The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Roth Capital increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, HSBC boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $295.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.50, for a total value of $8,108,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,397,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $598,149,304. This trade represents a 1.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $680,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 246,150 shares of company stock valued at $55,805,379. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

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 company has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $242.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $198.83.

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.