Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $183.75.

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOG. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. DA Davidson raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Pivotal Research assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $167.31 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $163.57 and its 200 day moving average is $168.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.66, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $121.46 and a 52-week high of $193.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total transaction of $278,775.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,728,640.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.84, for a total value of $4,113,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,204,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $403,141,173.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total transaction of $278,775.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,728,640.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 217,592 shares of company stock worth $35,922,911 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boltwood Capital Management increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the third quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,575 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Trust Co of the South grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.2% during the third quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 8,637 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,444,000 after buying an additional 1,270 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.5% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 227,036 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,958,000 after acquiring an additional 7,589 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 29,060 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,858,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 1,020 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.