Short Interest in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Expands By 10.5%

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 79,580,000 shares, a growth of 10.5% from the August 31st total of 72,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 25,200,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total value of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,728,640.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total transaction of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,824 shares in the company, valued at $5,728,640.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total value of $2,780,226.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,280,514.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 193,725 shares of company stock valued at $31,933,031. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% during the second quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Hengehold Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in Alphabet by 75.0% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC now owns 6,624 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 6,309 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Argus lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $220.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.35.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $1.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $166.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 28,262,189 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,530,713. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $162.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $166.84. The company has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.40, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet has a 1-year low of $120.21 and a 1-year high of $191.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

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.