Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 0.4% - Still a Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) traded up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $166.92 and last traded at $166.56. 4,152,733 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 19,116,982 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.81.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.94.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.6 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $162.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The company's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total value of $32,380.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,232,544.70. This trade represents a 2.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 146,824 shares of company stock valued at $25,086,603. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 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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