Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Receives $210.59 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-three ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-nine have issued a buy recommendation and four have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $210.59.

GOOGL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wedbush lifted their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.7 %

Alphabet stock opened at $163.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $182.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $147.22 and a twelve month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % 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, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.