Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 0.9% Higher – Time to Buy?

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) traded up 0.9% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $180.89 and last traded at $179.96. 4,021,144 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 19,627,500 shares. The stock had previously closed at $178.33.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.24 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.89.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. 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 at this link. In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total value of $3,990,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,084,306 shares in the company, valued at $369,672,512.16. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 232,052 shares of company stock valued at $38,424,448. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 360.1% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,249 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,083,000 after buying an additional 15,848 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 32,706 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,980,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares in the last quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. Integrity Financial Corp WA now owns 8,798 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,340,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in Alphabet by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,328,314 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $202,249,000 after purchasing an additional 14,519 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.0% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 595,799 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $90,716,000 after purchasing an additional 17,619 shares during the last quarter. 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.