Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Outperform Rating Reiterated at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets restated their outperform rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $222.00 price objective on the information services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on GOOGL. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an outperform rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JMP Securities restated a market outperform rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $201.08.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.5 %

GOOGL stock opened at $162.14 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $165.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.11. The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $120.21 and a 52 week high of $191.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 12.27%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total transaction of $3,614,175.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,114,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,713,977.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total value of $3,614,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,114,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total transaction of $125,126.54. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 30,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 180,167 shares of company stock valued at $29,762,606. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $787,000. New Hampshire Trust boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.7% during the second quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 43,714 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. Matisse Capital boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Matisse Capital now owns 16,781 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,344,000 after purchasing an additional 2,026 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Money Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at $359,000. Finally, Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP lifted its position in Alphabet by 58.4% during the 1st quarter. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP now owns 6,374 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 2,351 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.