Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Upgraded by Phillip Securities to “Strong-Buy” Rating

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

GOOGL has been the topic of several other reports. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 target price (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.51.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $169.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.45, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $127.90 and a 1 year high of $191.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $162.49 and its 200 day moving average is $169.20.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 232,052 shares of company stock worth $38,086,723. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pachira Investments Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 5.2% in the first quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 4,192 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,446 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $520,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.3% during the first quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 98,232 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,826,000 after buying an additional 4,089 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 43,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,502,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 16.0% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 239,116 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,090,000 after acquiring an additional 32,925 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.