Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Receives Neutral Rating from Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reissued their neutral rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a $201.00 price target on the information services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on GOOGL. Citizens Jmp increased their price target on Alphabet from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. KeyCorp increased their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.31.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $247.14 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 one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $256.00. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $213.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.91. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total transaction of $149,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,716 shares in the company, valued at $1,425,799.04. This trade represents a 9.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $680,610.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,236,785. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 258,088 shares of company stock worth $52,405,304 in the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mystic Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% in the first quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 27,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,187,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Capital LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 4.1% in the first quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,213,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 88,187 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,637,000 after acquiring an additional 13,371 shares during the period. Finally, Alaethes Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC now owns 7,646 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.