Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

by · The Cerbat Gem

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG – Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $252.75 and last traded at $251.76, with a volume of 29871600 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $241.38.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Barclays restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Lake Street Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.56.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Alphabet

Alphabet Stock Down 0.6%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $207.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total value of $7,466,225.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $558,219,089.16. The trade was a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376 shares during the last quarter. RDA Financial Network lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 11,094 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,968,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, jvl associates llc raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the first quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 10,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Company Profile

(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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