Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Westpark Capital

Westpark Capital assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $210.00 target price on the information services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.65.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.7 %

GOOG stock opened at $158.88 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The business’s 50-day moving average is $179.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.70. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $148.20 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 88,665 shares of company stock worth $16,198,310. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Centre Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $13,531,000. Modus Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.4% during the first quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 39,673 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,198,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 243,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,036,000 after acquiring an additional 4,714 shares during the period. Milestone Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $812,000. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $206,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.