Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $200.56.

GOOG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st.

Alphabet Trading Down 4.4 %

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $169.49 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $171.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.48, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $129.40 and a 52 week high of $193.31. 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:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business 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 posted $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. This represents a 35.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. 27.26% of the stock is 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.