Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, New Street Research Analyst Says

Key Points

• New Street Research has raised its price target for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) from $275 to $295, indicating a potential upside of 14.12% from the stock's previous close.
• Various analysts have given Alphabet a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy", with an average price target of $263.20 and multiple firms maintaining "buy" ratings.
• Insider trading has seen notable sales, including CEO Sundar Pichai selling 32,500 shares, reflecting a 1.34% decrease in his ownership.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by equities researchers at New Street Research from $275.00 to $295.00 in a research note issued on Friday,MarketScreener reports. New Street Research's target price would indicate a potential upside of 14.12% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Loop Capital reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $191.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $294.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Four research 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 presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $263.20.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $258.51 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $235.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.54, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $257.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.50, for a total value of $8,108,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,397,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $598,149,304. This represents a 1.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 246,150 shares of company stock valued at $55,805,379. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $21,944,208,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $4,317,606,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 17,667.7% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245,075 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,686,640,000 after purchasing an additional 15,159,273 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $78,839,544,000 after buying an additional 14,307,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 51.7% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,817,684 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,607,232,000 after buying an additional 10,843,853 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently 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.

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