Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after TD Securities raised their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $220.00. The company traded as high as $191.75 and last traded at $191.18, with a volume of 15931072 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $188.98.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on GOOGL. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Alphabet from $164.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Argus increased their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Alphabet from $168.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Raymond James raised their price objective on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Alphabet from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $195.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $125,126.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at $5,623,355.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total transaction of $3,541,725.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $125,126.54. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 123,788 shares of company stock worth $21,143,403. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. now owns 61,499 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,591,000 after buying an additional 4,664 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 55.4% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 214,443 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,956,000 after buying an additional 76,410 shares during the period. Robbins Farley lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 15,006 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,096,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $787,000. Finally, CKW Financial Group lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.8% during the first quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 13,830 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,150,000 after buying an additional 760 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The company has a market cap of $2.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

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.