Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price target upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $167.00 to $175.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the information services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Westpark Capital raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.63.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $161.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $162.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.62.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.