Citic Securities Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock

Key Points

• Citic Securities raised its target price for Alphabet's stock from $230 to $310, indicating an expected upside of 11.26% and maintaining a "buy" rating on the stock.
• Over thirty analysts have rated Alphabet's stock, with three giving it a Strong Buy rating and the average price target set at $303.09.
• Alphabet reported an EPS of $2.87 for the recent quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and its revenue reached $102.35 billion, which also surpassed projections of $99.90 billion.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by equities research analysts at Citic Securities from $230.00 to $310.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the information services provider's stock. Citic Securities' price objective points to a potential upside of 11.26% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $320.00 target price (up previously from $245.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $306.00 price objective (up from $255.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho set a $325.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $290.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, CIBC boosted their price objective on Alphabet to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $303.09.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $278.63 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock's fifty day moving average is $245.50 and its 200 day moving average is $201.24. Alphabet has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $291.59.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 36.08% and a net margin of 32.23%.The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $99.90 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at $558,219,089.16. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 222,442 shares of company stock valued at $51,200,307 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Matisse Capital grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Matisse Capital now owns 14,814 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,601,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Breakwater Investment Management grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 4,228 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,028,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,045 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $983,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,281 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Fonville Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fonville Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,078 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 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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