Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $343.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price upped by BMO Capital Markets from $340.00 to $343.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the information services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $265.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $315.18.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.9%

GOOGL opened at $302.46 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $287.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $232.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.65 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.83, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $328.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at $10,635,348.70. This trade represents a 29.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total transaction of $9,213,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,337,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $662,526,494.12. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 226,128 shares of company stock valued at $63,183,331 in the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $21,944,208,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,338,397,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 17,667.7% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,686,640,000 after buying an additional 15,159,273 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Alphabet by 28.0% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,910,542,000 after buying an additional 11,605,785 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 51.7% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,817,684 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,607,232,000 after buying an additional 10,843,853 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.