Barclays Raises Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $250.00

Key Points

• Barclays has increased its price target for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) from $235.00 to $250.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.48% from its current price.
• Other analysts also raised their price targets for Alphabet, with an average target price now at $219.11 and a rating consensus of "Moderate Buy".
• Alphabet reported a quarterly EPS of $2.31, exceeding expectations, with revenue of $96.43 billion, suggesting strong financial performance.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at Barclays from $235.00 to $250.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the information services provider's stock. Barclays's target price would suggest a potential upside of 6.38% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $222.33.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.70 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $235.00. 46,562,292 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 33,713,716. 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 has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $235.76. The company's 50 day moving average price is $195.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.01.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total value of $7,466,225.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $558,219,089.16. The trade was a 1.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $21,944,208,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $4,317,606,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 16,993.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,062,457 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,483,898,000 after acquiring an additional 15,968,487 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 17,667.7% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245,075 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,686,640,000 after acquiring an additional 15,159,273 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 14,307,345 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.