Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Jumps 1.2% – Should You Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price traded up 1.2% during trading on Monday. The stock traded as high as $296.33 and last traded at $288.15. 36,115,385 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 15% from the average session volume of 31,492,295 shares. The stock had previously closed at $284.78.

Latest Alphabet News

These are some of the GOOGL news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet launched Gemini for healthcare, extending its AI offering into a sector with potential for new products and commercial use. Alphabet (GOOGL) Launches Gemini For Healthcare
• Positive Sentiment: Google is expanding its AI model and chip lineup: it is testing a faster Gemini 4 Flash model internally, while newly announced TPUs target additional AI workloads. These moves could support Google Cloud and reduce reliance on outside chips. Google is letting staff test a fast new Gemini AI model named Hydrogen Alphabet Escalates AI Chip Rivalry With NVIDIA
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms publicized a securities class action filed over alleged disclosures about Gemini 3.5 Pro’s timing and development. The claims are allegations, but the litigation creates a potential legal and reputational overhang. Kaplan Fox Reminds Alphabet Investors of a Securities Class Action Deadline

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 price objective (up from $470.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $420.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $460.00 to $400.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $412.51.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $330.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $338.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.32, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by ($0.90). The business had revenue of $127.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $127.96 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 43.33% and a net margin of 50.03%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 19.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 7th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 7th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 4.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total transaction of $28,257.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,494,424.20. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 247 shares of company stock worth $79,238. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Saber Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Core Capital Management & Research inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Intelligent Financial Strategies purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Premier Financial Group purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc. is a technology holding company whose largest business is Google. Founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google became part of Alphabet when the company reorganized its businesses under the holding-company structure in 2015. Google’s products and services include Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and Google Cloud. The company also generates revenue from digital advertising and offers devices, subscriptions and artificial intelligence products and services.