Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 0.5% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) were up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $186.85 and last traded at $186.37. Approximately 3,598,319 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 17,725,828 shares. The stock had previously closed at $185.43.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $193.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total transaction of $3,975,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Elios Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Elios Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,401 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $267,000. Hobbs Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $344,000. Coign Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $1,459,000. Finally, Heritage Trust Co purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $19,549,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% 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.