Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company has raised its price target for Alphabet (GOOGL) from $184.00 to $187.00, maintaining an "equal weight" rating, indicating a potential downside of 2.55% from the current stock price.
• Several analysts have issued varying price objectives for Alphabet, with some rating the stock as "overweight" and others reaffirming a "neutral" stance, leading to a consensus price target of $211.39.
• Insider trading activity revealed that Director Kavitark Ram Shriram and CEO Sundar Pichai sold significant amounts of Alphabet shares, with Shriram's sale representing a 7.09% decrease in ownership.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $184.00 to $187.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Finviz reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the information services provider's stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on GOOGL. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Westpark Capital boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $172.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.39.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.4%

NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $2.77 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $189.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 34,777,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,669,572. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $178.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.12. Alphabet has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 249,399 shares of company stock worth $43,525,794 in the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter worth approximately $39,000. 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.