Raymond James Boosts Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $200.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price lifted by Raymond James from $160.00 to $200.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the information services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on GOOGL. Roth Mkm decreased their target price on Alphabet from $166.00 to $164.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Alphabet from $155.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday. Wedbush increased their price target on Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an overweight rating and set a $200.00 price target (up previously from $160.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $189.44.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $166.15 on Friday. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $103.71 and a 1 year high of $174.71. The firm has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $148.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $141.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.51, for a total transaction of $41,853.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,296,187.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total value of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at $347,832,416.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 253,209 shares of company stock valued at $36,711,144 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Independent Family Office LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 25.6% in the 1st quarter. Independent Family Office LLC now owns 2,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 8,539 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management increased its stake in Alphabet by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 1,186,114 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $165,759,000 after purchasing an additional 126,756 shares during the period. Renaissance Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC now owns 98,523 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,870,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533 shares during the period. Finally, Privium Fund Management UK Ltd increased its stake in Alphabet by 59.4% in the 1st quarter. Privium Fund Management UK Ltd now owns 54,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,381,000 after purchasing an additional 20,158 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is 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.