Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-three research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirty have assigned a buy recommendation and four have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $209.82.

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOGL. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $195.41 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $187.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $130.66 and a 1 year high of $202.29.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, 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 $369,672,512.16. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 122,887 shares of company stock valued at $22,470,464 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 79,015 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,958,000 after purchasing an additional 3,930 shares in the last quarter. MGB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. MGB Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,934 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,643,000 after buying an additional 683 shares in the last quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,794 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Howard Bailey Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. Howard Bailey Securities LLC now owns 2,771 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after acquiring an additional 749 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 6,795 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,286,000 after acquiring an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.