Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Buy Rating Reiterated at Truist Financial

Truist Financial reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $196.00 price target on the information services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on GOOGL. Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an outperform rating and set a $222.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday. Roth Mkm restated a buy rating and issued a $206.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Loop Capital reissued a hold rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $201.08.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.3 %

GOOGL stock opened at $159.81 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.51, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet has a one year low of $120.21 and a one year high of $191.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $165.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $165.13.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total transaction of $125,126.54. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,623,355.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total transaction of $600,175.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,655.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $125,126.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 180,167 shares of company stock valued at $29,762,606. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 62,657 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705 shares during the last quarter. American Trust raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.1% in the second quarter. American Trust now owns 9,543 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,738,000 after acquiring an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $208,000. Brightwater Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $426,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $1,792,000. 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.