Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $208.65.

Several research firms recently commented on GOOG. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Westpark Capital initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $550,702.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at $3,468,029.04. This represents a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 87,297 shares of company stock valued at $15,936,270. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $5,166,070,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Alphabet by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after buying an additional 7,917,625 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 181,679.1% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,376,066,000 after buying an additional 7,221,746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,376,706,000 after acquiring an additional 5,758,244 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of GOOG opened at $158.86 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $179.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $148.20 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

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.