Alphabet's (GOOG) "Outperform" Rating Reaffirmed at Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial reissued their outperform rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $210.00 target price on the information services provider's stock, up from their prior target price of $185.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Lake Street Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and five have given 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 $215.19.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock traded up $0.88 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $194.08. 31,074,800 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,020,362. The company has a market cap of $2.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50 day moving average is $176.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.53. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.77.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 249,409 shares of company stock worth $43,523,710 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. ACT Advisors LLC. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the second quarter. ACT Advisors LLC. now owns 1,625 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. LongView Wealth Management raised its position in Alphabet by 1.1% during the second quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 5,126 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $909,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Kooman & Associates raised its position in Alphabet by 1.4% during the second quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 4,127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management raised its position in Alphabet by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 17,328 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,300,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 593 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

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.