Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Increased to $200.00 by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from $180.00 to $200.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the information services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $174.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $141.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $187.82.

Alphabet Trading Up 10.2 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $171.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $147.85 and its 200 day moving average is $141.39. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $103.54 and a twelve month high of $174.71. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 253,439 shares of company stock worth $36,746,578. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Meritage Group LP boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 165.8% during the third quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.