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

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $183.75.

GOOG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Pivotal Research assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $167.31 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $121.46 and a 1 year high of $193.31. The company’s 50-day moving average is $163.57 and its 200-day moving average is $168.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total transaction of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 30,824 shares in the company, valued at $5,728,640.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total transaction of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 30,824 shares in the company, valued at $5,728,640.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.84, for a total transaction of $4,113,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,204,885 shares in the company, valued at $403,141,173.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 217,592 shares of company stock valued at $35,922,911. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,985 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% during the second quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% during the second quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 3,636 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.0% in the second quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 2,944 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 600 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.