Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Rating Lowered by Citizens Jmp

Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Loop Capital upped their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.44.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $191.79 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $180.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $172.50. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $130.66 and a 52-week high of $201.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.44, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 155,887 shares of company stock valued at $27,996,356. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Lantz Financial LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 10.8% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $842,000 after buying an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $218,000. Vance Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vance Wealth Inc. now owns 3,089 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Instrumental Wealth LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Instrumental Wealth LLC now owns 2,084 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 8.1% during the second quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 30,087 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,480,000 after acquiring an additional 2,265 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is 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.