Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 0.3% – Still a Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shot up 0.3% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $169.11 and last traded at $168.17. 4,853,951 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 27,180,684 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.65.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOGL. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 target price (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research raised their price target 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. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.90.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.1 %

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 company has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $168.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.34.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during 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 last year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total value of $3,570,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,137,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,160,251.80. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866 in the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $53,000. 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.