Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Receives Buy (B) Rating from Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Alphabet's stock has been reaffirmed with a "buy (B)" rating by Weiss Ratings, indicating positive outlook from analysts.
• Several equities analysts have raised their price targets for Alphabet, with Morgan Stanley targeting $270 and Pivotal Research setting a price objective of $300.
• Alphabet's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $2.31 EPS and $96.43 billion in revenue, reflecting a year-over-year revenue increase of 13.8%.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b)" rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Pivotal Research increased their price objective on Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.68.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded down $1.67 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $245.46. The stock had a trading volume of 14,074,901 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,672,240. The firm has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $224.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $188.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $256.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total value of $149,664.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,716 shares in the company, valued at $1,425,799.04. This represents a 9.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total value of $25,042.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,258.92. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 400.0% during the second quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Robbins Farley raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% during the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. WestEnd Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 58.7% during the second quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Fairman Group LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 121.3% during the second quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.