Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Up 1.6% - Should You Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 1.6% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $169.35 and last traded at $166.52. 18,611,462 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 28,967,870 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Bank of America increased their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group set a $195.00 target price on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.64, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,824 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total value of $529,302.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,815,948.32. The trade was a 15.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 179,324 shares of company stock worth $30,153,353. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in Alphabet by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 401,352 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $62,065,000 after buying an additional 50,455 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its stake in Alphabet by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 2,935,559 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $453,955,000 after buying an additional 93,981 shares during the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 29,750 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,544,000 after buying an additional 1,819 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 24.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 286,057 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $44,236,000 after buying an additional 55,755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AAF Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. AAF Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $662,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.