Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at Rosenblatt Securities

Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $189.00 target price on the information services provider’s stock.

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.75.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $168.47 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $158.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.88. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 261,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380 in the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bennett Selby Investments LP raised its position in Alphabet by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,425,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Burt Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors now owns 5,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,005,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 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.