Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Reaches New 12-Month High After Strong Earnings

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $176.42 and last traded at $172.82, with a volume of 16627219 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $157.95.

The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 30.01%. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $165.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 253,439 shares of company stock valued at $36,746,578 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 30.4% in the 1st quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 4,599 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. James Hambro & Partners raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. James Hambro & Partners now owns 864,134 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $131,502,000 after buying an additional 8,577 shares during the last quarter. Hourglass Capital LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Hourglass Capital LLC now owns 3,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $575,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Nadler Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Nadler Financial Group Inc. now owns 30,418 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,631,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Finer Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Finer Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,552 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $845,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 10.0 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $149.12 and its 200 day moving average is $142.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.05.

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.