Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Receives $378.53 Consensus PT from Analysts

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the thirty-six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-seven have assigned a buy recommendation and five have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $383.4375.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GOOG. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Alphabet from $395.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.2%

GOOG opened at $346.12 on Wednesday. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $184.73 and a 12 month high of $404.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.40, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $366.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $336.65.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.81 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America and Wedbush remain bullish, with both highlighting strong cloud growth, AI monetization potential, and upside to the stock ahead of earnings. Alphabet could crush estimates on Cloud strength, Anthropic windfall: BofA
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors are still pointing to accelerating Google Search and Google Cloud growth, while retail interest and institutional ownership remain strong ahead of the July 22 report.
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI and cloud businesses remain central to the bullish thesis, with multiple articles noting that the company could benefit from rising AI infrastructure spend and strong earnings expectations.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total value of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 27,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,345,358.56. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total transaction of $39,343.36. Following the sale, the director owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at $6,615,656.24. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279 in the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.