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

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-two analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirty-one have given a buy recommendation and four have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $206.08.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research raised their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

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 sale, the insider now directly owns 43,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. The trade was a 27.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $115,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,590,960. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 178,957 shares of company stock worth $31,358,687. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.6 %

Alphabet stock opened at $195.42 on Wednesday. Alphabet has a one year low of $130.66 and a one year high of $201.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $172.93 and a 200 day moving average of $170.97. The stock has a market cap of $2.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

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.