Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Receives “Outperform” Rating from BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $222.00 price target on the information services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on GOOGL. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $220.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, August 30th. Roth Mkm restated a buy rating and issued a $206.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $201.08.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $158.06 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $165.01. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $120.21 and a 52 week high of $191.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.95 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total transaction of $278,775.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,824 shares in the company, valued at $5,728,640.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total transaction of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,728,640.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.75, for a total transaction of $123,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 28,524 shares in the company, valued at $4,385,565. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 180,167 shares of company stock valued at $30,139,931 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Alphabet by 75.0% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.