Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $189.44.

GOOGL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price (up from $160.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $168.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $166.15 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet has a 1-year low of $103.71 and a 1-year high of $174.71.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at $243,854,485.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 253,209 shares of company stock worth $36,711,144 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Meritage Group LP lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the 3rd quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 165.8% during the 3rd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. 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.