Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $225.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at JMP Securities from $220.00 to $225.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "market outperform" rating on the information services provider's stock. JMP Securities' target price points to a potential upside of 16.47% from the company's current price.

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $172.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.32.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock traded up $1.01 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $193.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 39,738,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,427,228. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $175.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $172.93. The stock has a market cap of $2.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 249,409 shares of company stock valued at $43,523,710. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.