Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at BNP Paribas Exane

BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $355.00 price objective on the information services provider’s stock.

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. New Street Research boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $275.00 to $295.00 in a report on Friday, October 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets boosted their price target on Alphabet from $233.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Alphabet from $260.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. President Capital lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $258.00 to $323.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.65.

Alphabet Stock Up 6.3%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $318.58 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $319.48. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $263.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $215.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total value of $694,638.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $3,629,725.80. This represents a 16.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total value of $8,129,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,369,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $592,760,192.85. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 225,174 shares of company stock valued at $58,095,223. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. grew its position in Alphabet by 36.4% during the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.