Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Given “Market Perform” Rating at JMP Securities

JMP Securities restated their market perform rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on GOOGL. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $207.08.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $192.04 on Friday. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $130.66 and a 12-month high of $201.42. The company has a market cap of $2.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % 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, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 155,887 shares of company stock worth $27,996,356. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $66,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.