Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Rating Lowered to “Market Perform” at JMP Securities

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was downgraded by investment analysts at JMP Securities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $220.00 price target on the information services provider’s stock. JMP Securities’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 14.71% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.44.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $191.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $172.40. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $130.66 and a 1 year high of $201.42. The company has a market capitalization of $2.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 155,887 shares of company stock valued at $27,996,356 over the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth approximately $55,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.