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

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the forty-four research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-nine have issued a buy recommendation and five have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $200.74.

Several brokerages recently commented on GOOGL. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Westpark Capital raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of GOOGL opened at $147.67 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.78. The company has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total value of $5,075,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,685,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $419,320,207.36. This represents a 1.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total value of $32,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,232,544.70. The trade was a 2.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 25.4% during the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.