Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 1.9% Higher - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Alphabet Inc. stock rose by 1.9% to $211.49, but trading volume decreased by 72% compared to the average.
• A majority of analysts rate Alphabet as a buy, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $211.53.
• The company reported $2.31 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $96.43 billion against a forecast of $93.60 billion.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 1.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $211.16 and last traded at $211.49. 10,038,914 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 36,031,176 shares. The stock had previously closed at $207.48.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. BNP Paribas Exane reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $172.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Roth Capital boosted their price target on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $188.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.75. The company has a market cap of $2.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,656,704. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business'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 directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172 over the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mystic Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 6.7% during the first quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,400,000 after buying an additional 1,791 shares during the period. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co raised its position in Alphabet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 27,075 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,187,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,119,000. Cypress Capital LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 4.1% in the first quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,213,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Falcon Wealth Planning grew its stake in Alphabet by 15.7% in the first quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning now owns 9,898 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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