Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 0.4% – Time to Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price traded up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $169.54 and last traded at $167.82. 3,264,729 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 19,905,568 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.21.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Pivotal Research initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $183.75.

Alphabet Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $163.53 and a 200-day moving average of $168.49. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.74, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total transaction of $114,576.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,264,112. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total transaction of $114,576.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at $5,264,112. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total value of $278,775.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 30,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,728,640.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 217,592 shares of company stock worth $35,922,911. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by 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.