Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading 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 changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.02. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $171.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $171.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

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Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,367 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,183 shares in the company, valued at $4,927,257.72. The trade was a 4.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 197,923 shares of company stock valued at $34,244,676. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. M&G PLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,240,000. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $19,642,000 after purchasing an additional 14,738 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $50,488,000 after buying an additional 4,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 57,810 shares during the period. 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.