Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $193.26.

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (up previously from $160.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total value of $508,150.26. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,566,519.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total transaction of $508,150.26. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,566,519.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total transaction of $266,880.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $663,107.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,958 shares of company stock worth $22,383,553. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 59.2% during the first quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 293 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 87.5% during the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of GOOGL opened at $175.09 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet has a 1-year low of $115.35 and a 1-year high of $180.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $168.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

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.