Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Pivotal Research

Pivotal Research assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) in a report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $215.00 price objective on the information services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Rosenblatt Securities cut Alphabet from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $181.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 28th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alphabet to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Alphabet to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $183.75.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $168.56 on Tuesday. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $121.46 and a 52-week high of $193.31. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $163.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given 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 yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at $5,264,112. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,264,112. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total value of $278,775.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 30,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,728,640.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 217,592 shares of company stock worth $35,922,911 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,985 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,465,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% in the second quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% during the second quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 3,636 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 2,944 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 600 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.