UBS Group Raises Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $255.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price objective boosted by stock analysts at UBS Group from $237.00 to $255.00 in a report released on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the information services provider’s stock. UBS Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 7.79% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on GOOGL. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Roth Capital lifted their target price on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Alphabet from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.88.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.1%

GOOGL opened at $236.57 on Thursday. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $256.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $226.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $188.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.60 billion. Analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total transaction of $25,042.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 17,284 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,258.92. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.41, for a total transaction of $7,910,825.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,402,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $584,699,785.79. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.