Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Up 0.7% – Should You Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price traded up 0.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $194.50 and last traded at $192.01. 3,854,492 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 10,505,336 shares. The stock had previously closed at $190.63.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.3 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $181.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.99. 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 $2.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total transaction of $247,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,324 shares in the company, valued at $4,342,143.80. This represents a 5.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 155,887 shares of company stock worth $27,996,356 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Sunburst Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% during the third quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC now owns 2,959 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,674 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $447,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hutchinson Capital Management CA grew its position in Alphabet by 1.9% in the second quarter. Hutchinson Capital Management CA now owns 3,492 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $641,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.