Morgan Stanley Raises Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $195.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price lifted by Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $195.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the information services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on GOOGL. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. JMP Securities reissued a market outperform rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an outperform rating and set a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $178.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $187.82.

Alphabet Trading Up 10.2 %

Shares of GOOGL opened at $171.95 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $147.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.39. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $103.54 and a twelve month high of $174.71. The stock has a market cap 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 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 30.01%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 6.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 300 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.51, for a total value of $41,853.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,296,187.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 253,439 shares of company stock worth $36,746,578 over the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Meritage Group LP grew its stake 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 valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 165.8% during the 3rd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring 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.