Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 0.4% Higher – Time to Buy?

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) traded up 0.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $167.68 and last traded at $165.60. 6,015,896 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 27,068,066 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.96.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.76.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $161.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $168.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total transaction of $3,741,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,106,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $350,361,837.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total transaction of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,765,346. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total value of $3,741,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,106,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $350,361,837.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 220,426 shares of company stock valued at $35,993,340. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 40.03% 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.