Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 0.1% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shot up 0.1% on Friday . The company traded as high as $162.79 and last traded at $162.97. 10,723,535 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 25,786,968 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GOOGL. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.59.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.23, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.37.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp increased its holdings in Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.