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

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the forty-three ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $207.08.

Several research firms recently commented on GOOGL. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total transaction of $247,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,342,143.80. The trade was a 5.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 155,887 shares of company stock worth $27,996,356 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 280.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.0 %

GOOGL stock opened at $192.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $182.62 and its 200 day moving average is $173.02. Alphabet has a one year low of $130.66 and a one year high of $201.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.