Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 0.7% – Time to Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price was up 0.7% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $171.50 and last traded at $170.62. Approximately 14,937,478 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 21,772,436 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Pivotal Research boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 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 given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.66, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.84.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. 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.