Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Upgraded by Mizuho to "Strong-Buy" Rating

Key Points

• Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has received a "strong-buy" rating upgrade from Mizuho, reflecting positive analyst sentiment.
• As of now, four analysts rate Alphabet with a Strong Buy, while a total of 32 analysts have given it a Buy rating.
• Alphabet reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.31, exceeding analyst expectations of $2.15, with total revenue of $96.43 billion.

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

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and set a $201.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.63.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $243.10 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business has a fifty day moving average of $218.05 and a 200 day moving average of $184.24. The company has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $256.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total transaction of $25,042.39. Following the sale, the director directly owned 17,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,202,258.92. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 225,469 shares of company stock worth $46,586,752 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Beddow Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the second quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Gimbal Financial increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the second quarter. Gimbal Financial now owns 2,776 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the second quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 16,916 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,981,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the second quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC now owns 4,317 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $761,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Berkeley Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the second quarter. North Berkeley Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,200 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 55 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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