Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Up 2.7% - Still a Buy?

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) shot up 2.7% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $163.87 and last traded at $163.75. 5,184,165 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 19,366,973 shares. The stock had previously closed at $159.40.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Westpark Capital initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Benchmark reissued a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.88.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $167.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.58. The stock has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 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, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. 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.