Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $185.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Sanford C. Bernstein from $165.00 to $185.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the information services provider's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.03.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $2.68 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $161.96. 55,957,898 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 28,290,487. 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 firm's fifty day moving average is $162.18 and its 200-day moving average is $175.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company 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 prior year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. 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.