Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $250.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price objective raised by Barclays from $235.00 to $250.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the information services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities upped their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday. Westpark Capital increased their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Alphabet from $191.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.33.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $235.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $235.76. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $195.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.48. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.9 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, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,429,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $558,219,089.16. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at $44,656,704. The trade was a 5.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

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.