Alphabet’s (GOOG) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has a $270.00 price objective on the information services provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $235.00.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Lake Street Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $235.17 on Wednesday. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $236.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $196.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.89. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.4%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total value of $7,466,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at $558,219,089.16. This represents a 1.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total transaction of $122,274.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,316 shares in the company, valued at $1,287,137.64. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 506,535 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $96,465,000 after acquiring an additional 20,855 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 30,229 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,757,000 after buying an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Collar Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,993,000. Finally, Eagle Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC now owns 224,471 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,748,000 after buying an additional 9,588 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% 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.