Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 3.8% – Still a Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price traded up 3.8% on Monday . The company traded as high as $199.18 and last traded at $198.73. 8,999,795 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 19,609,055 shares. The stock had previously closed at $191.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $172.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,999 shares in the company, valued at $7,280,514.53. This trade represents a 27.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $115,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,824 shares in the company, valued at $4,590,960. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 198,623 shares of company stock worth $34,413,006 over the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 1ST Source Bank boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 55,309 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,247,000 after buying an additional 1,245 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 26,962 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,508,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $962,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $9,181,000. Finally, Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $339,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% 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.