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

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $200.56.

GOOG has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Scotiabank began coverage on Alphabet in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.0 %

Alphabet stock opened at $172.65 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $163.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.43. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $128.11 and a 52 week high of $193.31. The stock has a market cap of $2.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet will post 7.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total value of $3,652,875.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,182,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $354,310,204.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.03, for a total transaction of $130,424.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,024 shares in the company, valued at $4,894,812.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total value of $3,652,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,182,385 shares in the company, valued at $354,310,204.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 230,244 shares of company stock valued at $37,776,954 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.6% during the first quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 187,229 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,508,000 after purchasing an additional 8,201 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.6% during the second quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 11,366 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 93.6% in the first quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 3,910 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 1,890 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Alphabet by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 2,628,176 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $439,405,000 after buying an additional 115,716 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.