Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $203.94.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GOOG. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $163.85 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $164.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The firm has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.77. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

About Alphabet

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.