Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 0.4% – Still a Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares were up 0.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $201.93 and last traded at $200.35. Approximately 3,501,939 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 15,318,407 shares. The stock had previously closed at $199.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target for the company. Pivotal Research increased their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1 %

The company has a market cap of $2.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $187.39 and a 200-day moving average of $175.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total value of $234,331.14. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at $4,516,745.58. The trade was a 4.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. 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.