Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 1.6% – Should You Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares shot up 1.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $197.07 and last traded at $196.83. 5,411,985 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 15,832,311 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.77.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. Pivotal Research raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted 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. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $188.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. a16z Perennial Management L.P. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $934,000. Wealthstar Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $535,000. Stiles Financial Services Inc raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 18,995 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,619,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Martin Capital Advisors LLP raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Martin Capital Advisors LLP now owns 4,940 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $941,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LJI Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,472 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,042,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.