Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Rating Upgraded by Mizuho

Mizuho upgraded shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

GOOG has been the subject of several other research reports. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Phillip Securities cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.35.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $243.55 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.95 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $218.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $256.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 225,469 shares of company stock valued at $46,586,752. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $26,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WestEnd Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 58.7% during the 2nd quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.