BMO Capital Markets Reiterates Outperform Rating for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

BMO Capital Markets restated their outperform rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $217.00 target price on the information services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $215.00.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Mizuho increased their price target on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Loop Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.51.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.1 %

GOOGL stock opened at $171.29 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $162.43 and a 200-day moving average of $168.91. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $126.93 and a fifty-two week high of $191.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 7.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,136,807.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total transaction of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,765,346. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at $5,136,807.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 230,244 shares of company stock worth $37,776,954 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Costello Asset Management INC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 30,638 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,081,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC now owns 3,210 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $532,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. 17 Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. 17 Capital Partners LLC now owns 19,985 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,315,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 12.7% in the third quarter. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC now owns 5,242 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $869,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 414,394 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $68,728,000 after buying an additional 4,035 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is 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.