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

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) had its price target boosted by Citigroup from $195.00 to $200.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a buy rating on the information services provider's stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $178.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $198.89.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.2 %

GOOGL traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $160.36. 17,819,430 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,257,097. Alphabet has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company's fifty day moving average price is $161.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.60. The company has a market cap of $1.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. This trade represents a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its position in Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by 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.