Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 5.6% Following Earnings Beat

30 Oct 2024, 17:09 by Danessa Lincoln · The Markets Daily

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG – Get Free Report)’s share price shot up 5.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $183.79 and last traded at $180.75. 23,547,564 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 21% from the average session volume of 19,519,238 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.14.

The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.69.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,264,112. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total transaction of $114,576.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at $5,264,112. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total value of $3,652,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,182,385 shares in the company, valued at $354,310,204.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 220,426 shares of company stock valued at $35,993,340 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Alphabet by 19.7% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 84,171,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,815,986,000 after purchasing an additional 13,876,534 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $1,378,708,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,355,724,000 after acquiring an additional 7,470,042 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Alphabet by 65.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,294,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,052,349,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500,621 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Alphabet by 51.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,416,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $976,923,000 after acquiring an additional 2,190,795 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 5.6 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $163.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.04.

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