Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 0.4% – Still a Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares were up 0.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $169.09 and last traded at $167.08. Approximately 4,075,822 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 19,665,168 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.35.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Friday. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price for the company. Rosenblatt Securities cut Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $187.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.90.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.1 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $162.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.47. The company has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.84, for a total value of $4,113,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,204,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $403,141,173.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,183 shares in the company, valued at $4,927,257.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.84, for a total transaction of $4,113,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,204,885 shares in the company, valued at $403,141,173.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 216,092 shares of company stock worth $35,644,136. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 11.9% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 109,878 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $16,730,000 after acquiring an additional 11,646 shares during the period. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.3% in the second quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.6% in the first quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 187,229 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,508,000 after buying an additional 8,201 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in Alphabet by 4.6% during the second quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 11,366 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,097,000 after buying an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Management Group grew its position in Alphabet by 93.6% during the first quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 3,910 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $595,000 after buying an additional 1,890 shares in 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.