Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Cantor Fitzgerald Analyst Says

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Cantor Fitzgerald from $171.00 to $196.00 in a research report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a neutral rating on the information services provider's stock.

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $189.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.41.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $0.61 on Wednesday, reaching $183.58. 31,821,116 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 36,519,824. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $171.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.20.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,575,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 255,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,695,000. The trade was a 3.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total transaction of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,094,245.74. This represents a 6.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 183,343 shares of company stock worth $31,296,140. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Missouri Trust & Investment Co raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% in the second quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 16,916 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,981,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.9% in the second quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 6,477 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Perritt Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Nia Impact Advisors LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Bfsg LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% in the second quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 10,428 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,838,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.