Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Seaport Res Ptn

Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Zacks.com reports. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Alphabet’s Q4 2024 earnings at $2.13 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $8.02 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.02 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $2.12 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.23 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.36 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $8.73 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. DA Davidson raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $172.65 on Tuesday. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $128.11 and a fifty-two week high of $193.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. 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 firm earned $1.55 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet will post 7.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares in the company, valued at $50,765,346. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 230,244 shares of company stock worth $37,776,954 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $37,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP boosted its position in Alphabet by 62.5% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 260 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.