UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at UBS Group from $192.00 to $202.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the information services provider's stock. UBS Group's target price would indicate a potential upside of 4.57% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on GOOGL. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America upped their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. JMP Securities upped their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, June 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.32.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $1.01 on Thursday, reaching $193.18. 39,738,342 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,427,228. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $175.77 and a 200 day moving average of $172.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was 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 $466,000,536.96. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,094,245.74. This trade represents a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 249,409 shares of company stock valued at $43,523,710. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mystic Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 27,075 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,187,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,119,000. Cypress Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,213,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optivise Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.