Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Hits New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Alphabet Inc. hit a new 52-week high, after Pivotal Research raised its price target for the stock from $245.00 to $300.00, maintaining a buy rating.
• The company's latest earnings report exceeded expectations, showing an EPS of $2.31 and a revenue of $96.43 billion, which is a 13.8% increase from the previous year.
• Alphabet has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 to be paid on September 15, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.4%.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after Pivotal Research raised their price target on the stock from $245.00 to $300.00. Pivotal Research currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $231.80 and last traded at $231.10, with a volume of 70779743 shares. The stock had previously closed at $211.99.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $227.56.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 222,210 shares of company stock worth $41,742,155. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $96,465,000 after buying an additional 20,855 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 30,229 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,757,000 after buying an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Collar Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,993,000. Finally, Eagle Global Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC now owns 224,471 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $42,748,000 after purchasing an additional 9,588 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 9.0%

The business has a fifty day moving average of $194.34 and a 200-day moving average of $176.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

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.

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