Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $205.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the information services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on GOOGL. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 price objective on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.51.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.1 %

Alphabet stock opened at $171.29 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.91. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $126.93 and a 12 month high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 7.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th 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 of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total value of $3,652,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,182,385 shares in the company, valued at $354,310,204.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total transaction of $3,652,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,182,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $354,310,204.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 230,244 shares of company stock worth $37,776,954. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Costello Asset Management INC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% during the third quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 30,638 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,081,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC now owns 3,210 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $532,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. 17 Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. 17 Capital Partners LLC now owns 19,985 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,315,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC now owns 5,242 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $869,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 414,394 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $68,728,000 after purchasing an additional 4,035 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.