Alphabet's (GOOGL) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Citigroup

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by stock analysts at Citigroup in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $203.00 price objective on the information services provider's stock, up from their prior price objective of $200.00. Citigroup's price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.95% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $178.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.95.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL traded up $3.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $176.60. The stock had a trading volume of 32,546,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,920,705. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.68, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50-day moving average is $165.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.57.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.68, for a total transaction of $5,742,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,555,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $451,452,029.28. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total value of $32,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,232,544.70. This trade represents a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 216,195 shares of company stock valued at $35,764,898. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,119,000. Optivise Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. boosted its position in Alphabet by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,741,000 after purchasing an additional 2,790 shares during the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd boosted its position in Alphabet by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $11,816,000 after purchasing an additional 14,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Absolute Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% 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.