Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Price Target Raised to $215.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) had its price target upped by Oppenheimer from $185.00 to $215.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the information services provider’s stock.

GOOG has been the subject of a number of other reports. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $172.65 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $163.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.43. Alphabet has a one year low of $128.11 and a one year high of $193.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet will post 7.83 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm 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 yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total value of $3,652,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,182,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $354,310,204.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total transaction of $3,652,875.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,182,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $354,310,204.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total transaction of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,765,346. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 230,244 shares of company stock valued at $37,776,954. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Costello Asset Management INC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 29,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,967,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the period. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 5,164 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $863,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Austin Asset Management Co Inc raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Austin Asset Management Co Inc now owns 2,744 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $459,000 after buying an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.0% in the third quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,170 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $864,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Finally, Objective Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $750,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.