Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $200.00 to $232.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the information services provider's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price target would indicate a potential upside of 20.10% from the company's previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on GOOGL. UBS Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.32.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL traded up $1.01 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $193.18. 39,738,342 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 41,427,228. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.90. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $2.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.00. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $175.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $172.93.

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This represents a 1.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 249,409 shares of company stock worth $43,523,710. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Missouri Trust & Investment Co lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% in the second quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 16,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,981,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. AM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.9% in the second quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 6,477 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,141,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Perritt Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 618 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Nia Impact Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,249,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Bfsg LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% in the second quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 10,428 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,838,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.