HSBC Issues Positive Forecast for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price raised by HSBC from $335.00 to $370.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the information services provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (up previously from $265.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $265.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $233.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $312.06.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $315.81 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $328.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $271.77 and a 200 day moving average of $221.67.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.64, for a total transaction of $9,640,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,304,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $683,642,180.16. The trade was a 1.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.06, for a total transaction of $168,036.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,264,750.96. This represents a 11.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 193,628 shares of company stock valued at $50,942,622. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $31,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.4% during the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 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.