Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Receives $183.75 Average Price Target from Analysts

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $184.11.

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOG. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Pivotal Research initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock opened at $164.39 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $168.91. The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.21, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $121.46 and a fifty-two week high of $193.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 12.27%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.07, for a total transaction of $3,759,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,129,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $355,743,153.42. 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 hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.07, for a total transaction of $3,759,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,129,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $355,743,153.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total transaction of $114,576.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at $5,264,112. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 217,592 shares of company stock valued at $35,922,911. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,767 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $954,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 243,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,265,000 after buying an additional 8,509 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 267,512 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,701,000 after buying an additional 3,935 shares during the period. Baldwin Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 16,865 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,377,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,319,757 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $890,643,000 after acquiring an additional 146,054 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.