Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Up 1% – Should You Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price traded up 1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $175.73 and last traded at $175.66. 3,203,260 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 19,506,332 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.89.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.82, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.04. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $168.15 and its 200-day moving average is $171.87.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 184,295 shares of company stock valued at $30,698,791. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. M&G PLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,240,000. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.3% in the second quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,488,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 63,545 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,624,000 after purchasing an additional 5,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 11,366 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% 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.