Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $232.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price target raised by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $212.00 to $232.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the information services provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 23.07% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on GOOGL. Pivotal Research upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 price target (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Scotiabank raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.69.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $188.51 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.00, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average of $173.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.21. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $130.66 and a 52 week high of $201.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 178,957 shares of company stock worth $31,358,687. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Alphabet by 75.0% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors 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.