Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $199.50 and last traded at $198.54, with a volume of 3368468 shares. The stock had previously closed at $196.66.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. China Renaissance upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.08.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.80. The company has a market capitalization of $2.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 198,623 shares of company stock worth $34,413,006 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,555,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,910,838,000 after buying an additional 743,369 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,154,651,000 after acquiring an additional 2,626,431 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,857,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,268,933,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,385 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,011,412,000 after purchasing an additional 238,403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,175,106,000 after purchasing an additional 523,416 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% 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.