Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 0.6% Higher – Should You Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price rose 0.6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $201.45 and last traded at $201.21. Approximately 3,228,039 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 15,313,084 shares. The stock had previously closed at $200.03.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Pivotal Research raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.13.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $187.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total transaction of $3,990,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,084,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,672,512.16. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $33,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 87.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.