Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Increases Dividend to $0.22 Per Share

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of 0.22 per share by the information services provider on Monday, June 15th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This is a 4.8% increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21.

Alphabet has a dividend payout ratio of 8.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Alphabet to earn $14.74 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 6.0%.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $365.76 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $350.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $327.07. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $163.33 and a 12 month high of $404.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.90, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $2.43. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.81 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GOOG. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.00.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.