Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 2.1% – Should You Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was up 2.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $154.44 and last traded at $152.31. Approximately 9,476,562 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 50% from the average daily volume of 19,109,047 shares. The stock had previously closed at $149.24.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Westpark Capital started coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $207.33.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $171.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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 transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Breakwater Capital Group grew its position in Alphabet by 54.6% in the 1st quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 16,680 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,606,000 after acquiring an additional 5,890 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co now owns 5,351 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $836,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. ACT Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% in the first quarter. ACT Advisors LLC. now owns 1,570 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Diligent Investors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 4,455 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 516 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Management Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 19,024 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,972,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% 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.