Scotiabank Issues Positive Forecast for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) had its target price lifted by Scotiabank from $240.00 to $310.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a sector outperform rating on the information services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Pivotal Research upped their price target on Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Hsbc Global Res raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Mizuho raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.68.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $251.88 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $231.15 and its 200 day moving average is $192.08. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $257.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.41, for a total transaction of $7,910,825.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,402,119 shares in the company, valued at $584,699,785.79. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 210,872 shares of company stock worth $46,980,865. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,521 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,950,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Hengehold Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 9,811 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,389,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the period. OLIO Financial Planning boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. OLIO Financial Planning now owns 1,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $462,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 66.6% in the third quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC now owns 2,003 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the period. Finally, Bill Few Associates Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 1.8% during the third quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 40,722 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,918,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.