Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 1.4% Higher – Should You Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price rose 1.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $167.62 and last traded at $166.82. Approximately 2,610,167 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 19,706,672 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.52.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Pivotal Research assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on 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 assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.90.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.58, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $163.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,421,948.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total value of $3,652,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,182,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $354,310,204.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 220,426 shares of company stock worth $35,993,340 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% during 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 during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.