Loop Capital Increases Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $170.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) had its price target boosted by Loop Capital from $155.00 to $170.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Loop Capital currently has a hold rating on the information services provider's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on GOOGL. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $155.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $190.60.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $1.08 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $163.86. The stock had a trading volume of 32,498,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,886,965. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $103.71 and a 52 week high of $174.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total transaction of $3,753,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,280,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $380,389,234.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total transaction of $508,150.26. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,685 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,566,519.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total value of $3,753,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,280,511 shares in the company, valued at $380,389,234.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 275,789 shares of company stock valued at $40,477,534 in the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Meritage Group LP raised its position in Alphabet by 1,061.5% in the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 165.8% in the third quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. 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.