Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $177.10, but opened at $184.54. Alphabet shares last traded at $185.38, with a volume of 6,490,166 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Scotiabank started coverage on Alphabet in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target for the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $171.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $171.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total value of $2,780,226.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. This represents a 27.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 160,789 shares of company stock worth $27,374,143 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. M&G PLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $2,240,000. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,642,000 after acquiring an additional 14,738 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,488,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292 shares during the period. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP grew its position in Alphabet by 172.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,254,000 after purchasing an additional 57,810 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.