Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $215.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price objective upped by BMO Capital Markets from $185.00 to $215.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the information services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Alphabet from $174.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $187.82.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $171.95 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $147.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.39. 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 price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 6.79 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 12.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at $243,854,485.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 253,439 shares of company stock worth $36,746,578 over the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Meritage Group LP increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the 3rd quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 165.8% during the 3rd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 199 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.