Cantor Fitzgerald Reiterates "Neutral" Rating for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $171.00 target price on the information services provider's stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on GOOGL. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.95.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $4.99 on Wednesday, hitting $178.53. The stock had a trading volume of 107,974,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,238,454. Alphabet has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50-day moving average is $166.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.52.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 216,195 shares of company stock worth $35,764,898. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Macroview Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors now owns 5,307 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,005,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 618 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nia Impact Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,249,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

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.