Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 0.1% – Still a Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price traded up 0.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $171.14 and last traded at $170.82. 12,433,371 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 19,210,258 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.62.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOOG. Pivotal Research raised their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Five 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $171.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at $5,136,807.48. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total transaction of $3,442,233.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,307,206.90. This trade represents a 35.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.