Alphabet’s (GOOGL) “Market Perform” Rating Reaffirmed at JMP Securities

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reissued by equities researchers at JMP Securities in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Mizuho cut their price objective on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $207.38.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $4.72 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $153.99. 12,647,186 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,018,457. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $1.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.32. Alphabet has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,195.20. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Community Bank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,741,000 after buying an additional 2,790 shares in the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd grew its holdings in Alphabet by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,816,000 after buying an additional 14,262 shares in the last quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Permanent Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $273,000. Finally, Glass Wealth Management Co LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 37,054 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,580 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.