Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Up 0.7% – Still a Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares rose 0.7% on Friday . The company traded as high as $194.50 and last traded at $192.01. Approximately 3,854,492 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 10,505,336 shares. The stock had previously closed at $190.63.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The company has a market capitalization of $2.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $181.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total value of $247,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,342,143.80. This represents a 5.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total transaction of $473,929.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,406,343.27. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 154,519 shares of company stock worth $27,734,316 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the second 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 in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 87.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.