JPMorgan Chase & Co. Reiterates Buy Rating for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. has reaffirmed a "buy" rating for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), indicating strong confidence in the company's performance.
• Various research firms have issued differing ratings for GOOGL, with 34 analysts recommending a buy and recent price target increases suggesting optimism in its stock's future.
• Alphabet's stock opened at $242.15, with recent quarterly earnings exceeding expectations, reporting revenue of $96.43 billion and earnings per share of $2.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a report released on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on GOOGL. Phillip Securities lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $191.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $247.40.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $242.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 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. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $256.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $227.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $189.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total value of $149,664.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,716 shares in the company, valued at $1,425,799.04. This trade represents a 9.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.41, for a total transaction of $7,910,825.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,402,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,699,785.79. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 276,338 shares of company stock valued at $59,062,683. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 516,559,609 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $91,033,300,000 after buying an additional 6,733,278 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $40,524,841,000 after purchasing an additional 4,008,374 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 141,615,284 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $24,857,017,000 after buying an additional 4,224,497 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $21,944,208,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 44,151,820 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,780,875,000 after acquiring an additional 503,306 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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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