Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 0% – Time to Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was up 0% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $178.50 and last traded at $176.86. Approximately 3,420,188 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 19,507,098 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on GOOG. DA Davidson raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $167.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $171.80.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total value of $3,772,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,159,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $362,126,319.10. This represents a 1.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,471,141. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 360.1% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,249 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,083,000 after buying an additional 15,848 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 5.8% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 32,706 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,980,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 19.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 86,040 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,100,000 after purchasing an additional 13,756 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 50.0% during the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan David Investments LLC IL grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 43.6% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 7,803 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 2,371 shares during the period. 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.