Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Sanford C. Bernstein Analyst Says

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by Sanford C. Bernstein from $185.00 to $195.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "market perform" rating on the information services provider's stock. Sanford C. Bernstein's price target indicates a potential upside of 1.14% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $171.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.32.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $192.81. The company had a trading volume of 25,598,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,975,742. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.00. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $175.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.10. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 35.22%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. This trade represents a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 249,409 shares of company stock valued at $43,523,710 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.64% 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 the stock. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. 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.