Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Citigroup from $195.00 to $200.00 in a report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the information services provider's stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group set a $190.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $178.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.03.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL traded up $2.68 during trading on Friday, reaching $161.96. 55,957,898 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,290,487. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The business's 50 day moving average price is $162.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.52.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Optivise Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,741,000 after buying an additional 2,790 shares during the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $11,816,000 after buying an additional 14,262 shares during the period. Absolute Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Permanent Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $273,000. 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.