Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Receives $210.59 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the forty-three research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $210.59.

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Robert W. Baird reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,368 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Schear Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 33,751 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,598,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares during the period. Permanent Capital Management LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $273,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 27.9% during the third quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 25,275 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,192,000 after buying an additional 5,516 shares during the period. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 37,054 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 8,981 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,700,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $3.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $167.68. The company had a trading volume of 30,826,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,891,044. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $147.22 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $182.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.65.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

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.