Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $210.00 price objective on the information services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on GOOGL. BMO Capital Markets reissued an outperform rating and set a $222.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Alphabet from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $203.74.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $166.66 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $120.21 and a 1 year high of $191.75. The company has a market cap of $2.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day moving average is $178.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $161.44.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.22, for a total value of $3,897,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,258,011 shares in the company, valued at $391,132,665.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total transaction of $118,572.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,209,888.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.22, for a total value of $3,897,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,258,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $391,132,665.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 99,808 shares of company stock worth $17,732,125 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.