FY2024 EPS Estimates for Alphabet Raised by William Blair

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) – Research analysts at William Blair boosted their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Alphabet in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, October 29th. William Blair analyst R. Schackart now anticipates that the information services provider will post earnings of $7.94 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $7.63. The consensus estimate for Alphabet’s current full-year earnings is $7.85 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Alphabet’s Q4 2024 earnings at $2.05 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.98 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.19 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.27 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $8.54 EPS.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on GOOGL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.51.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $171.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50-day moving average is $162.32 and its 200 day moving average is $168.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $122.68 and a 12 month high of $191.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 497,874,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $75,144,172,000 after purchasing an additional 4,064,073 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Alphabet by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,724,251,000 after purchasing an additional 7,275,757 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,011,412,000 after acquiring an additional 238,403 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.7% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,412,299 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,344,778,000 after buying an additional 597,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,274,184,000 after purchasing an additional 418,204 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,183 shares in the company, valued at $4,927,257.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,765,346. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total transaction of $230,804.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,927,257.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 219,744 shares of company stock valued at $35,878,764 in the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

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.