Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Receives $206.03 Average PT from Analysts

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-two brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $206.08.

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Pivotal Research upped their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $189.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $129.68 and a 12-month high of $195.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $171.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.60.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total transaction of $3,614,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,114,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,741,643.48. The trade was a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 198,623 shares of company stock worth $34,413,006 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Lantz Financial LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 10.8% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $842,000 after buying an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 4.5% during the second quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 376,816 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $68,637,000 after purchasing an additional 16,253 shares during the period. St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 50.0% during the second quarter. St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC now owns 19,221 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,517,000 after purchasing an additional 6,404 shares during the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.6% in the second quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,823 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the period. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% in the second quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 37,951 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,913,000 after buying an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% 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.