Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Raises Dividend to $0.21 Per Share

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 28th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of 0.21 per share by the information services provider on Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a 5.0% increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20.

Alphabet has a dividend payout ratio of 7.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Alphabet to earn $10.23 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 7.8%.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $162.42 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $163.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,997,521.61. This trade represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Alphabet stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.7% of Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $22,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.