Analysts Set Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Target Price at $206.44

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the forty-three ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $206.82.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson began coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total transaction of $3,741,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,106,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $350,361,837.80. This represents a 1.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total value of $473,929.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,406,343.27. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 155,887 shares of company stock valued at $27,996,356 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $195.49 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. Alphabet has a one year low of $130.66 and a one year high of $201.42. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $181.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $172.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 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.