Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Receives $204.88 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-seven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $204.88.

GOOG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Needham & Company LLC lowered Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded up $2.38 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $180.01. The stock had a trading volume of 32,854,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,432,613. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a market cap of $2.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.36, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The business's 50-day moving average price is $162.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.17.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company 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%. Alphabet's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total value of $5,483,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,587,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $436,570,192.16. The trade was a 1.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.