Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 0.5% – Should You Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price shot up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $185.05 and last traded at $184.58. 5,241,424 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 27,319,570 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.61.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets restated 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. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.4 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $192.37 and a 200 day moving average of $174.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $2.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Schear Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 33,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,598,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 25,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,516 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 6,305,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,037,196,000 after purchasing an additional 611,233 shares during the last quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,509 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,567,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 8,981 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,700,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.