Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $165.67.

GOOG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total transaction of $3,753,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,280,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $380,389,234.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total value of $93,086.18. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 28,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,903,886.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total transaction of $3,753,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,280,511 shares in the company, valued at $380,389,234.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 275,129 shares of company stock valued at $40,382,765 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Veracity Capital LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 10,597 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after buying an additional 1,173 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its holdings in Alphabet by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 6,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $859,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 33.0% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 7,359 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $970,000 after buying an additional 1,826 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 27,723 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 8,238 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $168.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.15. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $104.70 and a 52-week high of $176.42. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.74.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet will post 7.66 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

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.