Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Price Target Raised to $285.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) had its price target upped by Jefferies Financial Group from $230.00 to $285.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the information services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on GOOG. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.33.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $246.45 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $221.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.15. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $256.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total value of $25,042.39. Following the sale, the director owned 17,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,258.92. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares during the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 107.9% during the first quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $572,000 after acquiring an additional 1,899 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 46.2% in the first quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 10,025 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 3,167 shares during the last quarter. Channel Wealth LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 4.2% in the first quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 46,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,897 shares during the period. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 10.9% in the first quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC now owns 1,522 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% 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.