Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation and five have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $203.94.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GOOG. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC downgraded Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $165.40 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $160.16 and a 200-day moving average of $176.77. The company has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 179,324 shares of company stock worth $30,153,353. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,606 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,353,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,044 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,341,000 after buying an additional 2,390 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC now owns 14,762 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,811,000 after purchasing an additional 5,055 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 13,109 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,532,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Biltmore Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Biltmore Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,098 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $780,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% 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.

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