Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Up 0.1% - Should You Buy?

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) shot up 0.1% on Friday . The company traded as high as $162.79 and last traded at $162.97. 10,723,535 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 25,786,968 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.80.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $210.59.

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Alphabet Trading Up 1.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business's fifty day moving average is $182.57 and its 200 day moving average is $176.65.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% 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.