Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 0.3% – Still a Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price rose 0.3% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $190.81 and last traded at $190.34. Approximately 9,301,441 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 19,748,387 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.70.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $175.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $172.73.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $4,085,531.55. This trade represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 178,957 shares of company stock worth $31,358,687. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors 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.