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

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) rose 1.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $156.54 and last traded at $154.44. Approximately 9,269,870 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 28,106,056 shares. The stock had previously closed at $152.82.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on GOOGL. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.51.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.8 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.22. The stock has a market cap of $1.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total value of $284,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Community Bank N.A. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,741,000 after buying an additional 2,790 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd boosted its position in Alphabet by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,816,000 after acquiring an additional 14,262 shares during the last quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Permanent Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $273,000. Finally, Glass Wealth Management Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 37,054 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,580 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.