Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Up 2.2% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Alphabet's shares rose 2.2% during mid-day trading on Monday, closing at $194.16 after a high of $195.42 and a notable 72% decline in trading volume compared to its average.
• Analysts have mixed sentiments about Alphabet, with three rating it as a sell and several giving it a "buy" or "strong buy" rating; the average target price is $215.19.
• Alphabet reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $2.31 EPS, exceeding estimates and showcasing a 13.8% revenue increase year-over-year, with a quarterly revenue of $96.43 billion.

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) rose 2.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $195.42 and last traded at $194.16. Approximately 6,815,423 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 24,206,314 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.95.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reissued a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC cut shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $179.37 and a 200-day moving average of $174.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 249,399 shares of company stock valued at $43,525,794 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BLB&B Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 9,437 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,674,000 after acquiring an additional 1,427 shares during the period. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 27,813 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,934,000 after buying an additional 2,087 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 55,660 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,874,000 after buying an additional 6,156 shares during the period. REDW Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. REDW Wealth LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Coign Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,015 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,422,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

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.

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