Stifel Nicolaus Issues Positive Forecast for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price

Key Points

• Stifel Nicolaus raised its price target for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) stock from $222.00 to $292.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.96% from its previous close and maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Alphabet recently reported strong quarterly earnings, with $96.43 billion in revenue and an earnings per share of $2.31, surpassing expectations and demonstrating a net margin of 31.12%.
• Recent research reports from analysts reflect a positive outlook on Alphabet, with a consensus of four "strong buy" ratings and an average target price of $263.20.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $222.00 to $292.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the information services provider's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' price objective indicates a potential upside of 12.96% from the stock's previous close.

GOOGL has been the subject of several other research reports. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $252.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $263.20.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $258.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $235.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.45. The company has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.54, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $257.33.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Research analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $680,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 246,150 shares of company stock worth $55,805,379. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $7,804,000. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the third quarter. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH now owns 126,972 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,360 shares in the last quarter. Hudock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% during the third quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 4,950 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,203,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Alphabet by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 1,004,874 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $244,285,000 after purchasing an additional 65,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors grew its stake in Alphabet by 43.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 26,334 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,402,000 after purchasing an additional 7,959 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

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.

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