Brokerages Set Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Target Price at $209.13

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $209.13.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 540,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $102,855,000 after acquiring an additional 14,375 shares in the last quarter. Saturna Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $273,000. Summit X LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Summit X LLC now owns 11,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,204,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 66,889 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,738,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065 shares during the period. Finally, Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,886 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.2 %

GOOG opened at $187.14 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $131.55 and a 12 month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 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 anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

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.