Alphabet’s (GOOGL) “Neutral” Rating Reiterated at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a $200.00 price objective on the information services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on GOOGL. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.59.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $163.99 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.38. The stock has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $147.22 and a twelve month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bennett Selby Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.