Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $240.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at Tigress Financial from $220.00 to $240.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "strong-buy" rating on the information services provider's stock. Tigress Financial's target price suggests a potential upside of 51.13% from the company's current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.46.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $1.36 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $158.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 34,310,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,245,662. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $161.20 and a 200-day moving average of $175.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total transaction of $5,075,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,685,196 shares in the company, valued at $419,320,207.36. This trade represents a 1.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bernardo Wealth Planning LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 28.2% during the first quarter. Bernardo Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,236 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 17.4% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,328,122 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $514,661,000 after purchasing an additional 492,703 shares during the period. Phillips Financial Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC now owns 7,136 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,104,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,392 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,143,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.8% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 579,842 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $89,667,000 after acquiring an additional 10,009 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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