Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $215.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price lifted by BMO Capital Markets from $185.00 to $215.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the information services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on GOOGL. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $174.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $189.44.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.4 %

GOOGL opened at $166.15 on Friday. Alphabet has a one year low of $103.71 and a one year high of $174.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.62.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 253,209 shares of company stock worth $36,711,144. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 87.5% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Group LP grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the 3rd quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% 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.