Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 0.9% - Time to Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 0.9% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $174.20 and last traded at $174.08. Approximately 4,489,808 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 27,038,992 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities raised their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. China Renaissance upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.90.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.03. The business's 50-day moving average is $165.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total transaction of $3,570,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,137,385 shares in the company, valued at $339,160,251.80. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,835 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. This trade represents a 8.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,471,141. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Alphabet by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,230 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,279,000 after buying an additional 41,880 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 31,171 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 187,840 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $28,351,000 after purchasing an additional 20,572 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 27.4% in the first quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 34,871 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,263,000 after purchasing an additional 7,507 shares during the period. Finally, Nixon Peabody Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.9% during the first quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 113,126 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,074,000 after buying an additional 5,268 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.

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