Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Given “Overweight” Rating at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $200.00 price target on the information services provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $160.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $187.82.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $171.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $103.54 and a 52 week high of $174.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $147.85 and a 200-day moving average of $141.39.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 25.90%. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total transaction of $508,150.26. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,566,519.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 253,439 shares of company stock valued at $36,746,578. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Meritage Group LP raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1,061.5% in the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 165.8% in the third quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is 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.