Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 1.1% Higher – Still a Buy?

by · The Cerbat Gem

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGLGet Free Report) traded up 1.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $323.16 and last traded at $321.27. 27,532,741 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 25% from the average session volume of 36,757,539 shares. The stock had previously closed at $317.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $233.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 target price (up previously from $290.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price target (up from $250.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $343.00 price target (up previously from $280.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $312.65.

View Our Latest Report on Alphabet

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1%

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $274.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $223.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGLGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.06, for a total transaction of $168,036.00. Following the sale, the director owned 4,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,264,750.96. This trade represents a 11.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.66, for a total transaction of $32,401.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,750,916.64. This represents a 0.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 193,628 shares of company stock valued at $50,942,622. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $31,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 36.4% during the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

(Get Free Report)

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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