Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 2.8% Higher – Still a Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price traded up 2.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $199.56 and last traded at $198.63. 5,273,919 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 11,718,202 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.13.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target on the stock. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $182.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,531.55. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 155,887 shares of company stock valued at $27,996,356. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. increased its position in shares of 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 worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.