Truist Financial Raises Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $170.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at Truist Financial from $158.00 to $170.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Truist Financial’s target price indicates a potential upside of 8.97% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on GOOGL. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $144.00 to $141.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $157.97.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $156.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.90, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $146.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.40. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $102.63 and a twelve month high of $160.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bornite Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth $16,688,000. Markel Corp raised its position in Alphabet by 17.0% during the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 15,500 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $43,110,000 after acquiring an additional 2,250 shares in the last quarter. United Bank raised its position in Alphabet by 5.9% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 2,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,654,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Alphabet by 23.4% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 323,918 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $900,929,000 after acquiring an additional 61,427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management raised its position in Alphabet by 20.4% during the first quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 9,279 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $25,806,000 after acquiring an additional 1,570 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.