Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 0.2% Higher – Should You Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) rose 0.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $167.37 and last traded at $164.36. Approximately 8,983,158 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 29,647,822 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent research reports. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush boosted their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.62.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.5 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $186.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.39. 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 company has a market cap of $1.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.36, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,531.55. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 95,882 shares of company stock worth $17,934,130. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $14,197,000. Northstar Financial Companies Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,269,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 62,856 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,899,000 after buying an additional 1,316 shares during the period. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,014,000. Finally, Campbell Deegan Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $536,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.