Zacks Research Has Positive View of Alphabet FY2024 Earnings

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research raised their FY2024 EPS estimates for Alphabet in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, November 19th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the information services provider will post earnings of $7.89 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $7.55. The consensus estimate for Alphabet’s current full-year earnings is $7.99 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Alphabet’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.99 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.96 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $2.08 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.15 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.36 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $8.55 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.28 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.38 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.69 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $10.07 EPS.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $166.57 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $169.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.87. Alphabet has a one year low of $129.40 and a one year high of $193.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. M&G PLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $2,240,000. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,488,000 after buying an additional 4,292 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 63,545 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,624,000 after acquiring an additional 5,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.6% in the second quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 11,366 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

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.