Wells Fargo & Company Increases Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $168.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price target upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $141.00 to $168.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the information services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a market outperform rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reissued an outperform rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up previously from $178.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $187.82.

Alphabet Stock Up 10.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $171.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.39. The firm has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $103.54 and a 12-month high of $174.71.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 30.01%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 6.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,854,485.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at $243,854,485.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 253,439 shares of company stock valued at $36,746,578 in the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. now owns 61,499 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,591,000 after purchasing an additional 4,664 shares in the last quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC now owns 15,747 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385 shares in the last quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 8.0% in the third quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,623 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $998,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,416,533 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $577,908,000 after buying an additional 104,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NatWest Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 239.0% during the 4th quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 100,793 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,080,000 after acquiring an additional 71,057 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.