Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Given New $205.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the information services provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective indicates a potential upside of 8.45% from the company's previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on GOOGL. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $189.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $202.22.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $3.97 on Monday, hitting $189.03. 19,839,120 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 32,136,384. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.06, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 215,843 shares of company stock valued at $37,288,490 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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.