Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 1.7% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was up 1.7% on Tuesday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $210.00 to $225.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $195.40 and last traded at $195.15. Approximately 7,573,527 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 24,000,145 shares. The stock had previously closed at $191.81.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total value of $234,331.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,516,745.58. The trade was a 4.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total value of $3,990,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,084,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,672,512.16. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Denver PWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50-day moving average of $186.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

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.