Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 1.1% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s stock price traded up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $154.00 to $174.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $158.68 and last traded at $157.73. 4,139,583 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 22,167,635 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.00.

GOOG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $159.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,548,095.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $147.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $141.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.28 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.