Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 0.6% – Time to Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shot up 0.6% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $167.47 and last traded at $166.85. 2,999,101 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 19,493,498 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Pivotal Research began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $187.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.90.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.23, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $163.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total transaction of $3,652,875.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,182,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $354,310,204.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,264,112. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total value of $3,652,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,182,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $354,310,204.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 220,426 shares of company stock worth $35,993,340 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the 2nd 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 period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 62.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 260 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 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.