Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Given Buy Rating at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in a research note published on Monday morning,MarketScreener reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on GOOGL. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. President Capital increased their target price on Alphabet from $375.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Dbs Bank raised their target price on Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Alphabet from $370.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $413.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL traded down $3.07 on Monday, reaching $346.61. 11,098,591 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 31,892,805. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $367.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $332.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The firm has a market cap of $4.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $166.13 and a 12 month high of $408.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.71%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.63, for a total value of $178,701.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,923,235.59. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $995,341.06. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 160,516 shares of company stock valued at $7,344,604. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $685,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $85,557,000 after purchasing an additional 48,805 shares during the period. Finally, United Bank lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,495,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet is losing key AI researchers and executives to competitors, including senior DeepMind and Gemini talent, which is fueling concerns that the company may be falling behind in the AI talent war. Alphabet paces for worst day in a year on AI concerns after high-profile exits
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage from several outlets said Google’s online dominance is showing signs of cracking as AI models and AI-first search alternatives gain traction, adding to concerns about long-term search revenue growth. Google’s online dominance Is showing signs of cracking in AI era
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech-sector weakness and worries about aggressive AI spending by hyperscalers are weighing on Alphabet along with other mega-cap names. Alphabet, SpaceX, Intel, and More Stocks That Explain Today’s Market
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also announced a $75 million AI research partnership with A24, which shows continued investment in AI applications but does not appear to have offset concerns about talent losses and competitive pressure. Google DeepMind signs AI research deal with film studio A24

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.