Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03, Zacks reports. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.5 %

Alphabet stock opened at $207.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $191.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.91. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $131.55 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Pivotal Research increased their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 100,029 shares of company stock worth $18,462,883. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.