Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 2.1% - Still a Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 2.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $180.28 and last traded at $178.76. Approximately 9,625,498 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 21,218,448 shares. The stock had previously closed at $175.16.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and six have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $207.63.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.4%

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.29. The firm has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.81, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total value of $5,483,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,587,696 shares in the company, valued at $436,570,192.16. This trade represents a 1.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 261,966 shares in the company, valued at $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Hutchinson Capital Management CA raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Hutchinson Capital Management CA now owns 3,555 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $677,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 15,977 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,043,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 17,328 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,300,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 593 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kidder Stephen W increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Kidder Stephen W now owns 3,608 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $687,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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