Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Price Target Cut to $200.00 by Analysts at Scotiabank

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) had its price target decreased by Scotiabank from $232.00 to $200.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the information services provider's stock.

GOOG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. KeyCorp cut their target price on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reissued a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.38.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.5 %

Alphabet stock traded up $2.30 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $160.02. 3,688,310 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,358,358. 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 has a market cap of $1.95 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.19. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total value of $5,075,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,685,196 shares in the company, valued at $419,320,207.36. This trade represents a 1.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.