Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Given “Overweight” Rating at Piper Sandler

03 Oct 2024, 11:58 by Michael Walen · The Markets Daily

Piper Sandler reissued their overweight rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a $200.00 target price on the information services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. JMP Securities reissued a market outperform rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Truist Financial reiterated a buy rating and set a $196.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a neutral rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $201.14.

Read Our Latest Analysis on GOOGL

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $165.86 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. 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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.07, for a total transaction of $3,759,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,129,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $355,743,153.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of Alphabet 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 312,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,765,346. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.07, for a total transaction of $3,759,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,129,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $355,743,153.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 217,592 shares of company stock valued at $35,922,911. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in Alphabet by 75.0% during the second 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 last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Denver PWM LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

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