BMO Capital Markets Raises Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $215.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price boosted by BMO Capital Markets from $185.00 to $215.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the information services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on GOOGL. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Alphabet from $141.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a market outperform rating in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $187.82.

Alphabet Stock Up 10.2 %

Alphabet stock opened at $171.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $147.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $141.39. Alphabet has a 1-year low of $103.54 and a 1-year high of $174.71.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 6.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,402.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,922.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 253,439 shares of company stock valued at $36,746,578 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. M. Kraus & Co grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the first quarter. M. Kraus & Co now owns 6,267 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 3.9% during the first quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Aire Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 11,772 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,645,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.1% during the first quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,274 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $511,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.0% during the first quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,350 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 70 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.