Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Up 3.9% – Time to Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price was up 3.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $197.62 and last traded at $197.26. Approximately 9,956,041 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 27,315,760 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.82.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.08.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business’s fifty day moving average is $171.63 and its 200 day moving average is $170.63. The company has a market cap of $2.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.16, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total value of $3,614,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,114,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total value of $2,780,226.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,999 shares in the company, valued at $7,280,514.53. The trade was a 27.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 198,623 shares of company stock worth $34,413,006. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% 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.