Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 1.2% Higher – Should You Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) rose 1.2% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $323.83 and last traded at $322.09. Approximately 15,525,591 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 23,893,596 shares. The stock had previously closed at $318.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, November 24th. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Scotiabank set a $336.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Alphabet from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $310.54.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $275.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $223.79. The firm has a market cap of $3.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.76, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.28%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.06, for a total transaction of $168,036.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,264,750.96. This represents a 11.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 954 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.00, for a total value of $302,418.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 11,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,721,580. This represents a 7.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 196,406 shares of company stock valued at $51,743,408. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Robbins Farley lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% in the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $40,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.