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

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price shot up 0% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $167.03 and last traded at $166.33. 5,095,949 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 17,770,727 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.