Pivotal Research Upgrades Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to Strong-Buy

Pivotal Research upgraded shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, Zacks.com reports.

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Loop Capital reiterated a hold rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a neutral rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Roth Mkm reiterated a buy rating and set a $206.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $201.14.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $167.06 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $162.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.14. Alphabet has a one year low of $120.21 and a one year high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total transaction of $114,576.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,264,112. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total transaction of $114,576.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,264,112. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.07, for a total value of $3,759,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,129,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $355,743,153.42. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 217,592 shares of company stock valued at $35,922,911 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

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