Wedbush Boosts Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $220.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price objective boosted by Wedbush from $210.00 to $220.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Wedbush’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 11.35% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.82.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $5.78 during trading on Monday, hitting $197.57. 11,448,393 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,688,908. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $130.66 and a 52-week high of $201.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $180.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $172.46.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 155,887 shares of company stock valued at $27,996,356. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $66,000. 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.