Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Price Target Raised to $225.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) had its target price raised by Canaccord Genuity Group from $220.00 to $225.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the information services provider’s stock.

GOOG has been the subject of several other reports. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen raised 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. Wolfe Research raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Pivotal Research lifted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.0 %

GOOG opened at $172.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.43. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $128.11 and a fifty-two week high of $193.31. The company 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 7.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total transaction of $3,652,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,182,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $354,310,204.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total transaction of $3,652,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,182,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $354,310,204.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 230,244 shares of company stock valued at $37,776,954. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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