Wedbush Boosts Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $205.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price objective upped by Wedbush from $175.00 to $205.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has an outperform rating on the information services provider’s stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for Alphabet’s Q2 2024 earnings at $1.85 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $1.78 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.96 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $8.25 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $144.00 to $141.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $189.44.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $166.15 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $148.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $141.62. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $103.71 and a 12 month high of $174.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Meritage Group LP grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the 3rd quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 165.8% during the third quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. 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.