Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Receives Buy Rating from Roth Mkm

Roth Mkm reissued their buy rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Roth Mkm currently has a $220.00 target price on the information services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on GOOGL. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.59.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $163.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.36, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $146.74 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $183.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. 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, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at $50,376,238.74. This trade represents a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.