Truist Financial Issues Positive Forecast for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price target lifted by Truist Financial from $220.00 to $225.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the information services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on GOOGL. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho raised their target price on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.51.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $171.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $162.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.91. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $126.93 and a 52-week high of $191.75. 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:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 7.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 230,244 shares of company stock valued at $37,776,954. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.