Wedbush Comments on Alphabet’s FY2024 Earnings (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) – Stock analysts at Wedbush raised their FY2024 earnings estimates for shares of Alphabet in a research note issued on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush analyst S. Devitt now expects that the information services provider will earn $8.02 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $7.58. The consensus estimate for Alphabet’s current full-year earnings is $7.83 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Alphabet’s Q4 2024 earnings at $2.13 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.03 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $2.15 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.26 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.45 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $8.89 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $9.85 EPS.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS.

GOOG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $172.65 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $163.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 2.08. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $128.11 and a 12 month high of $193.31.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth $37,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth $40,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 62.5% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 260 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total value of $3,652,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,182,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $354,310,204.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 230,244 shares of company stock worth $37,776,954 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

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.