Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 3.1% – Should You Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares rose 3.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $293.95 and last traded at $285.02. Approximately 52,463,857 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 46% from the average daily volume of 35,826,008 shares. The stock had previously closed at $276.41.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Alphabet from $288.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective (up previously from $285.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.33.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $3.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $259.16 and a 200-day moving average of $211.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.06, for a total transaction of $168,036.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,264,750.96. This represents a 11.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total value of $9,213,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,337,119 shares in the company, valued at $662,526,494.12. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 189,896 shares of company stock worth $47,653,637 in the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mystic Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 6.7% in the first quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 88,187 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,637,000 after buying an additional 13,371 shares in the last quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC now owns 7,646 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Moment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% in the second quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after buying an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 4.0% during the second quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 64,262 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,325,000 after acquiring an additional 2,467 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is 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.