Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Up 2.1% - Should You Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) traded up 2.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $154.44 and last traded at $152.31. 9,476,562 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 19,109,047 shares. The stock had previously closed at $149.24.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.71.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.6 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $170.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.89.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after acquiring an additional 264,962 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $166,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 12.9% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 13,575 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,546 shares during the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $263,000. Finally, Advisory Resource Group boosted its position in Alphabet by 8.7% in the third quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 10,277 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,718,000 after buying an additional 822 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

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.