Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) traded down 0.2% during mid-day trading on Monday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $225.00 to $200.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as low as $156.60 and last traded at $157.17. 4,886,054 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 27,648,414 shares. The stock had previously closed at $157.46.
Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on GOOGL. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $176.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, August 30th. Argus boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.08.
Insider Activity
In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total transaction of $3,991,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,213,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $392,588,151.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total transaction of $3,991,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,213,011 shares in the company, valued at $392,588,151.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total value of $600,175.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,655.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 180,167 shares of company stock valued at $30,139,931 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Collaborative Wealth Managment Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $213,000. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,343,499 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $187,673,000 after acquiring an additional 30,212 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 48.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 14,092 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,969,000 after acquiring an additional 4,571 shares during the last quarter. Invst LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Invst LLC now owns 24,479 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,527,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 812,598 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $113,512,000 after purchasing an additional 66,859 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Alphabet Price Performance
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $167.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $164.87. The company has a market capitalization of $1.95 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.
Alphabet Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.
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.