Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Given New $260.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. has raised its price target for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) from $232.00 to $260.00, maintaining an "overweight" rating, indicating a potential upside of 13.29%.
• Alphabet's stock has experienced a significant increase, trading up 8.3% to reach $229.50, with over 29 million shares exchanged on the trading day.
• The company reported strong quarterly earnings of $2.31 per share and revenue of $96.43 billion, surpassing analysts' expectations, and showcasing a year-over-year revenue growth of 13.8%.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $232.00 to $260.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the information services provider's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price target points to a potential upside of 13.29% from the company's previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. KeyCorp set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $224.13.

Alphabet Stock Up 8.3%

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $17.51 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $229.50. 29,530,964 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,699,957. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $193.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.85. The stock has a market cap of $2.78 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $231.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at $492,281,408.64. This trade represents a 1.30% 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, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total transaction of $122,274.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,316 shares in the company, valued at $1,287,137.64. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 222,210 shares of company stock worth $41,742,155 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $945,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. jvl associates llc increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 10,055 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Members Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 84.7% in the 1st quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 4,999 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 2,292 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

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.

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