Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 0.2% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) traded up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $170.10 and last traded at $168.86. 14,336,222 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 49% from the average session volume of 28,048,471 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.50.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. DZ Bank lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.62.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $190.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.20.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,309 shares of company stock worth $25,057,490 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,798,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares during the period. Integrity Financial Corp WA boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA now owns 6,977 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,157,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Kaye Capital Management raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kaye Capital Management now owns 6,827 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Ledyard National Bank raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 109,121 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,098,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Telos Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 111,714 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,528,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% 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.