Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $201.35.

A number of research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $222.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, September 16th. TD Securities upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $166.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet has a 1-year low of $120.21 and a 1-year high of $191.75. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total value of $2,780,226.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total value of $2,780,226.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 312,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,765,346. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 193,725 shares of company stock valued at $31,933,031. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.