Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 0% – Still a Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares were up 0% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $196.33 and last traded at $196.17. Approximately 3,427,217 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 27,552,244 shares. The stock had previously closed at $196.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.69.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.1 %

The company has a market cap of $2.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.99, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $176.38 and its 200-day moving average is $171.74.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 29,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. This represents a 4.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total transaction of $2,780,226.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. The trade was a 27.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 178,257 shares of company stock worth $31,243,187. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd 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 period. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $53,000. 40.03% 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.