Scotiabank Boosts Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Price Target to $240.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) had its price target upped by Scotiabank from $200.00 to $240.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the information services provider's stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on GOOG. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Lake Street Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $209.44.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG traded down $0.60 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $191.51. 33,526,188 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,680,281. The business's 50-day moving average price is $175.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,094,245.74. This represents a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 249,409 shares of company stock worth $43,523,710. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOG. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WestEnd Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 58.7% during the 2nd quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently 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.