Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Raised to Strong-Buy at Hsbc Global Res

Key Points

• Alphabet was upgraded to a "strong-buy" rating by HSBC Global Research, indicating a positive outlook for the company's stock.
• The stock has an average price target of $242.98, with five analysts rating it as a Strong Buy and thirty-four rating it as a Buy.
• Insiders, including CEO Sundar Pichai, have recently sold shares, adding to a trend where insiders sold 276,738 shares valued at $59,135,475 in the last three months.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Hsbc Global Res to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on GOOGL. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $172.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, June 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $242.98.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $245.76 on Tuesday. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $256.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. The company's fifty day moving average price is $223.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.13.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% 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 the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.41, for a total transaction of $7,910,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,402,119 shares in the company, valued at $584,699,785.79. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Neumann Advisory Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings in Alphabet by 201.3% in the 3rd quarter. Neumann Advisory Hong Kong Ltd now owns 124,239 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,203,000 after buying an additional 83,000 shares during the last quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 105,166 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $25,566,000 after purchasing an additional 3,541 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 24,526 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,962,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. KWB Wealth raised its holdings in Alphabet by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. KWB Wealth now owns 2,060 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $501,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balefire LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Balefire LLC now owns 10,261 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,494,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares in 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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