Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $225.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price target raised by KeyCorp from $215.00 to $225.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the information services provider’s stock.

GOOGL has been the subject of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 target price (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Loop Capital raised their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. China Renaissance raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $207.08.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.0 %

GOOGL opened at $192.04 on Friday. Alphabet has a 1-year low of $130.66 and a 1-year high of $201.42. The business has a 50 day moving average of $182.62 and a 200-day moving average of $172.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total value of $473,929.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 26,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,406,343.27. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 154,387 shares of company stock valued at $27,748,931. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Graypoint LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 64,918 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,607 shares during the last quarter. Lynch & Associates IN increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Lynch & Associates IN now owns 31,272 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,920,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the period. Atlas Brown Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 12,229 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,315,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,155 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,276,000 after buying an additional 5,602 shares during the period. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,729,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.