Alphabet’s (GOOGL) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $210.00 target price on the information services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on GOOGL. JMP Securities restated a market outperform rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $220.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an outperform rating and set a $222.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $203.74.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $162.96 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The company has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $175.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $162.35. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $120.21 and a 1 year high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced 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 return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,765,346. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total value of $118,572.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,209,888.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,765,346. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 133,365 shares of company stock valued at $22,936,043. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC now owns 6,624 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 6,309 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,149,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by 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.