Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Receives $199.75 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the forty research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $199.75.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $168.21. The stock had a trading volume of 34,523,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,072,695. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.43.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. 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 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $28,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, NBZ Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.