Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $200.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price objective boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $155.00 to $200.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the information services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on GOOGL. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a market outperform rating in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $187.82.

Alphabet Trading Up 10.2 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $171.95 on Friday. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $103.54 and a 12-month high of $174.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.39.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet will post 6.79 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the firm’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 value of $369,096.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 253,439 shares of company stock valued at $36,746,578. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Chico Wealth RIA bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $330,000. Summit Global Investments lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 67.7% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 241,463 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,598,000 after buying an additional 97,466 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $934,000 after buying an additional 1,096 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 5,951 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the period. Finally, David J Yvars Group lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. David J Yvars Group now owns 4,170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $546,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.