Alphabet Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.21 (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a dividend of 0.21 per share by the information services provider on Monday, March 16th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th.

Alphabet has a payout ratio of 8.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Alphabet to earn $10.23 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 8.2%.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG traded down $2.01 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $331.33. 51,306,171 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,086,047. The company has a market cap of $4.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $322.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $269.49. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $350.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on Alphabet in a report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $343.47.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.