Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and six have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $206.38.
A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th.
View Our Latest Report on Alphabet
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.87, for a total transaction of $5,553,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,620,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $447,712,890.52. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $26,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Alphabet Price Performance
GOOG stock opened at $180.22 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.60. The stock has a market cap of $2.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.
Alphabet Company Profile
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Get Free ReportAlphabet 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.
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