Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 1.3% – Still a Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price shot up 1.3% on Monday . The company traded as high as $166.23 and last traded at $165.42. 3,568,988 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 27,096,375 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. Loop Capital restated a “hold” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.13.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $161.37 and a 200 day moving average of $167.86.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.84, for a total value of $4,113,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,204,885 shares in the company, valued at $403,141,173.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.84, for a total transaction of $4,113,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,204,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $403,141,173.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total transaction of $230,804.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 216,092 shares of company stock worth $35,644,136. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. New Hampshire Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 43,714 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,963,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Money Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at $359,000. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 58.4% in the first quarter. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP now owns 6,374 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $962,000 after buying an additional 2,351 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $842,000. Finally, SWP Financial LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $200,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.