Alphabet FY2024 EPS Estimate Boosted by Cantor Fitzgerald

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) – Equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Alphabet in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, January 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst D. Mathivanan now forecasts that the information services provider will earn $8.06 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $7.96. The consensus estimate for Alphabet’s current full-year earnings is $8.02 per share.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

GOOG has been the subject of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.7 %

Alphabet stock opened at $195.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $183.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.38. Alphabet has a 1-year low of $131.55 and a 1-year high of $202.88.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. M&G PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,240,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,642,000 after buying an additional 14,738 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,488,000 after buying an additional 4,292 shares in the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP increased its position in Alphabet by 172.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,254,000 after acquiring an additional 57,810 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 63,545 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,624,000 after acquiring an additional 5,892 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total transaction of $247,425.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,342,143.80. This trade represents a 5.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 155,887 shares of company stock worth $27,996,356. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

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.