Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Receives "Neutral" Rating from Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $171.00 target price on the information services provider's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on GOOGL. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wedbush set a $190.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $178.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $200.17.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.7%

Alphabet stock traded up $2.86 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $173.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 31,717,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,881,263. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $165.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.58. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,232,544.70. This represents a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 216,306 shares of company stock worth $35,782,927 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is 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.