Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 0% Higher - Should You Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 0% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $198.69 and last traded at $197.17. 4,845,859 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 19,669,586 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.12.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on GOOG. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Alphabet in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $212.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.5 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.22, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $174.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $172.49.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $88.27 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were 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 owns 282,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $115,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,824 shares in the company, valued at $4,590,960. This trade represents a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 178,957 shares of company stock valued at $31,358,687 in the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. M&G PLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $2,240,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 14,738 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted 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. Stevens Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Alphabet by 172.9% during the third quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,254,000 after acquiring an additional 57,810 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 10.2% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 63,545 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,624,000 after acquiring an additional 5,892 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.