Sanford C. Bernstein Boosts Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $180.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price hoisted by Sanford C. Bernstein from $165.00 to $180.00 in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the information services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday. Roth Mkm dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $166.00 to $164.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $189.44.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.4 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $166.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $103.71 and a 52-week high of $174.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $148.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.62. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.51, for a total transaction of $41,853.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,296,187.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.51, for a total transaction of $41,853.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,296,187.41. 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 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 253,209 shares of company stock valued at $36,711,144 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Meritage Group LP lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 165.8% during the 3rd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.