Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 1.1% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $154.00 to $174.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $158.68 and last traded at $157.73. Approximately 4,139,583 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 22,167,635 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.00.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on GOOG. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $159.86.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total transaction of $3,541,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $362,516,961.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482 in the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Partnership Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The firm has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

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.