Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 0.6% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) were up 0.6% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $197.25 and last traded at $197.19. 2,502,493 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 19,807,303 shares. The stock had previously closed at $195.99.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $177.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 43,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. The trade was a 27.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,531.55. This trade represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 178,257 shares of company stock valued at $31,243,187 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $33,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.