Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 0% Higher – Time to Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price shot up 0% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $167.54 and last traded at $166.59. 9,536,482 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 29,012,609 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.54.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOOGL. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.75.

Alphabet Price Performance

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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 129,744 shares of company stock valued at $20,968,366. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Strive Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 41.1% in the 1st quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC now owns 1,625 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 346.9% in the first quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. now owns 101,698 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,727,000 after buying an additional 78,941 shares during the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $9,102,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% during the first quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 104,476 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $16,156,000 after purchasing an additional 1,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 634,245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $98,080,000 after acquiring an additional 11,495 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is 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.