Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 0.2% – Still a Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was up 0.2% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $164.89 and last traded at $164.19. Approximately 6,021,487 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 25,746,461 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.59.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $182.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.