Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 3.8% – Time to Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price was up 3.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $199.18 and last traded at $198.73. Approximately 8,999,795 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 19,609,055 shares. The stock had previously closed at $191.38.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.28, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $173.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $172.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total transaction of $3,614,175.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,114,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. This trade represents a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total transaction of $2,780,226.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,280,514.53. The trade was a 27.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 198,623 shares of company stock worth $34,413,006 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $33,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Alphabet

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.