Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 1.4% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Alphabet's Stock Performance: Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) increased by 1.4% to $208.88, with a significant drop in trading volume, totaling around 9.1 million shares compared to an average of 36.1 million shares.
• Analyst Ratings: Multiple research firms have raised their price targets for Alphabet, with Bank of America setting a new target of $217.00 and BMO Capital Markets increasing theirs to $225.00, indicating a generally positive outlook for the stock.
• Quarterly Earnings Announcement: Alphabet reported earnings of $2.31 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.15, with total revenue reaching $96.4 billion, surpassing the forecast of $93.6 billion.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) was up 1.4% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $209.29 and last traded at $208.88. Approximately 9,125,085 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 36,186,645 shares. The stock had previously closed at $206.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOGL. Bank of America boosted their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $186.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.12. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - 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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total transaction of $122,274.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,316 shares in the company, valued at $1,287,137.64. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock worth $47,223,172 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 85.7% in the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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