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

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) had its price target raised by Piper Sandler from $195.00 to $220.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the information services provider's stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. 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. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.32.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL traded up $1.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $193.18. 39,738,342 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,427,228. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $175.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $172.93. The firm has a market cap of $2.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 249,409 shares of company stock worth $43,523,710. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. lifted its position in Alphabet by 36.4% during the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% 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.