Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $232.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $212.00 to $232.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the information services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.69.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $191.41 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $174.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $171.33. The company has a market cap of $2.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $130.66 and a 12-month high of $201.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 company earned $1.55 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $115,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,590,960. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 178,957 shares of company stock worth $31,358,687. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in 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 last quarter. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. 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.