Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Up 0.8% – Still a Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares rose 0.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $183.12 and last traded at $181.06. Approximately 9,979,999 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 26,951,625 shares. The stock had previously closed at $179.66.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.62.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.5 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $191.72 and a 200 day moving average of $176.14. The firm has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% 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.