Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $200.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price target raised by Jefferies Financial Group from $180.00 to $200.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the information services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on GOOGL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Alphabet from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup increased their price target on Alphabet from $168.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday. Wolfe Research increased their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday. Susquehanna increased their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Alphabet from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $187.82.

Alphabet Trading Up 10.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $171.95 on Friday. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $103.54 and a 12-month high of $174.71. The company has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day moving average of $147.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $141.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 6.79 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $369,096.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,402.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $369,096.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,402.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at $362,516,961.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 253,439 shares of company stock worth $36,746,578 in the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Meritage Group LP raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 165.8% during the third quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 199 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.