Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $280.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price increased by Tigress Financial from $240.00 to $280.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a strong-buy rating on the information services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.33.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $235.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $235.76. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $195.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.35.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Research analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $558,219,089.16. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 240,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. American Trust raised its holdings in Alphabet by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Trust now owns 24,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,362,000 after acquiring an additional 3,810 shares during the period. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $135,000. Lavaca Capital LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Lavaca Capital LLC now owns 6,860 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,209,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Midwestern Financial LLC IA bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $217,000. Finally, Tribridge Partners Financial LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $266,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently 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.