Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Alphabet's share price reached a new 52-week high of $257.58 after Scotiabank upgraded its price target from $240.00 to $310.00, indicating strong market confidence.
• Multiple analysts have issued positive ratings for Alphabet, with six rating it as a Strong Buy, and a consensus price target of $244.68 among analysts.
• Insider transactions showed significant selling activity, with insiders offloading over 244,000 shares valued at $53 million in the past 90 days, leading to concerns about insider confidence.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $240.00 to $310.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $257.58 and last traded at $255.42, with a volume of 5090235 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $251.71.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Lake Street Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $244.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total value of $25,042.39. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,202,258.92. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 953 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.20, for a total transaction of $229,863.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,171,312.80. This trade represents a 5.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 244,438 shares of company stock worth $53,216,085 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,901,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares in the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 107.9% during the 1st quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,659 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $572,000 after buying an additional 1,899 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 19.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 91,681 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $14,323,000 after purchasing an additional 14,931 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 52,342 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $8,177,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Demars Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 73.5% during the 1st quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 811,927 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $126,847,000 after acquiring an additional 344,016 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $230.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $191.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

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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