Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Now Covered by Analysts at HSBC

Key Points

• HSBC analysts have initiated coverage on Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) with a "buy" rating and a price target of $285, indicating a potential upside of 13.80% from its last close.
• A consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" has been established for Alphabet, with analysts giving an average target price of $241.81 and a mix of ratings that include four Strong Buy and thirty-four Buy ratings.
• Alphabet's recent quarterly earnings beat expectations, reporting earnings of $2.31 per share on revenue of $96.43 billion, surpassing consensus estimates.

Stock analysts at HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $285.00 price target on the information services provider's stock. HSBC's price target suggests a potential upside of 13.80% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Westpark Capital lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $241.81.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $250.43 on Tuesday. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $256.00. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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 the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at $466,000,536.96. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 276,738 shares of company stock worth $59,135,475 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Breakwater Investment Management increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 4,228 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,028,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $445,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Gimbal Financial increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Gimbal Financial now owns 2,776 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $489,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 16,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,981,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silver Coast Investments LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC now owns 4,317 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $761,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

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.

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