Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Receives Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) with a price target of $220.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.38% from its previous close.
• Alphabet exceeded earnings expectations with a reported EPS of $2.31, surpassing the consensus estimate of $2.15, and achieved a revenue of $96.43 billion for the last quarter.
• Multiple analysts have adjusted their price targets, with firms like Wells Fargo and Susquehanna increasing their targets significantly, reflecting a strong consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating restated by Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $220.00 price target on the information services provider's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price target would indicate a potential upside of 5.00% from the company's current price.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.53.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $3.4360 during trading on Thursday, reaching $209.5260. 18,833,318 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,251,953. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $210.52. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.12.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm's 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. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 50,132 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,490,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its position in Alphabet by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 29,100 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 73,282 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,873,000 after purchasing an additional 13,564 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.