Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Given New $285.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group has raised Alphabet's price target from $230.00 to $285.00, suggesting a potential upside of 16.07% from the previous close.
• Alphabet's stock has received various upgrades from analysts, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.33.
• The company reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $2.31, surpassing estimates and showing a revenue increase of 13.8% compared to the same period last year.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $230.00 to $285.00 in a report released on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the information services provider's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price target would indicate a potential upside of 16.07% from the stock's previous close.

GOOG has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.33.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $245.54 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $219.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.88. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $256.70. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.15, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total transaction of $149,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,425,799.04. The trade was a 9.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at $4,236,785. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 243,285 shares of company stock valued at $50,994,787 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in Alphabet by 10.2% in 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. RDA Financial Network lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.3% in the second quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 11,094 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,968,000 after buying an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.7% during the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,527,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Finally, Members Trust Co increased its stake in Alphabet by 84.7% in the 1st quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 4,999 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $781,000 after acquiring an additional 2,292 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by 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.

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