Wedbush Analysts Increase Earnings Estimates for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) – Equities research analysts at Wedbush increased their Q2 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Alphabet in a report issued on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush analyst S. Devitt now anticipates that the information services provider will earn $1.85 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $1.67. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Alphabet’s current full-year earnings is $6.82 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Alphabet’s Q3 2024 earnings at $1.78 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.96 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $8.25 EPS.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 EPS.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on GOOGL. Redburn Atlantic raised their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target (up previously from $160.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.82.

Alphabet Trading Up 10.2 %

GOOGL opened at $171.95 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $103.54 and a fifty-two week high of $174.71. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $147.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $141.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at $243,854,485.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at $347,832,416.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 253,439 shares of company stock worth $36,746,578. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Trust raised its position in Alphabet by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Trust now owns 55,410 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,251,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Community Trust & Investment Co. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 71.0% in the third quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 3,613 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $473,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Essex LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.4% in the third quarter. Essex LLC now owns 27,121 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,549,000 after buying an additional 882 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 340,364 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,540,000 after acquiring an additional 4,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 313,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $41,009,000 after acquiring an additional 2,236 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.