Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Lowered to $185.00 at Morgan Stanley

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price target reduced by Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $185.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the information services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Westpark Capital raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.74.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $151.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $165.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total value of $32,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,613 shares in the company, valued at $1,232,544.70. This trade represents a 2.56 % decrease in their position. 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 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 115,663 shares of company stock valued at $20,286,447 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 25.4% in the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% 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.