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

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the forty-two analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-seven have assigned a buy recommendation and five have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $199.95.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $178.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $166.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.38.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total value of $32,380.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,232,544.70. This represents a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 216,195 shares of company stock valued at $35,764,898. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.