Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $200.00 at JMP Securities

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price upped by JMP Securities from $160.00 to $200.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market outperform rating on the information services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on GOOGL. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $144.00 to $141.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $168.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $189.44.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $166.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.48, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $103.71 and a 52 week high of $174.71.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,402.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $369,096.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 253,209 shares of company stock worth $36,711,144 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Independent Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.6% during the first quarter. Independent Family Office LLC now owns 2,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 8,539 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 12.0% in the first quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 1,186,114 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $165,759,000 after purchasing an additional 126,756 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the first quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC now owns 98,523 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,870,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533 shares during the period. Finally, Privium Fund Management UK Ltd boosted its position in Alphabet by 59.4% in the first quarter. Privium Fund Management UK Ltd now owns 54,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,381,000 after buying an additional 20,158 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.