Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 2.3% – Still a Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price shot up 2.3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $194.77 and last traded at $194.07. 5,766,150 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 21,218,010 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.66.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four 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 $208.15.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $184.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.33. 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:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. The trade was a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $53,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $66,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 19.0% in the third quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.