Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-seven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $201.35.

Several analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday. Loop Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $115,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,824 shares in the company, valued at $4,590,960. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $125,126.54. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at $5,623,355.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $115,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,590,960. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 180,867 shares of company stock worth $29,878,106. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $162.73 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $163.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.14. The stock has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $120.21 and a twelve month high of $191.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

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.