Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a $200.00 target price on the information services provider’s stock, down from their prior target price of $230.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on GOOGL. Truist Financial cut their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Wedbush set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho lowered their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Alphabet from $229.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.74.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $151.08 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $165.82 and a 200-day moving average of $175.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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 research analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total transaction of $32,380.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,613 shares in the company, valued at $1,232,544.70. The trade was a 2.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 115,663 shares of company stock worth $20,286,447. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,871,384,000 after buying an additional 337,031 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth $8,960,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 93.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 17,080 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,833,000 after buying an additional 8,242 shares in the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 86,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,285,000 after purchasing an additional 13,642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hohimer Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.3% in the third quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 43,897 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,280,000 after buying an additional 8,851 shares in 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.