Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Raised to “Hold” at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Alphabet to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $181.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, June 28th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $182.86.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $152.13 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $172.50 and a 200 day moving average of $165.93. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $121.46 and a 52 week high of $193.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $125,126.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at $5,623,355.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total transaction of $266,880.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $663,107.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total transaction of $125,126.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 200,532 shares of company stock worth $34,055,874. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 29,159 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,109,000 after purchasing an additional 3,924 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management increased its stake in Alphabet by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 16,440 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,317,000 after purchasing an additional 3,283 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,647 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $937,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 1,665 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marest Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $2,852,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% 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.