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

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirty-two have assigned a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $222.8462.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. Westpark Capital increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,200. This represents a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 225,588 shares of company stock worth $44,296,554. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $31,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $251.16 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $204.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.65. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $253.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

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.