Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.85.

Alphabet Trading Up 4.5%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $251.61 on Friday. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $252.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $203.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.15.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% 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, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total value of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,462,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $492,281,408.64. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the first 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. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Alphabet

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.