Canaccord Genuity Group Boosts Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $190.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price target boosted by Canaccord Genuity Group from $180.00 to $190.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a buy rating on the information services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $144.00 to $141.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Alphabet from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $158.41.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $154.09 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The stock has a market cap of $1.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.54. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $102.63 and a 52-week high of $160.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total transaction of $3,541,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at $362,516,961.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. now owns 61,499 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,591,000 after purchasing an additional 4,664 shares in the last quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC now owns 15,747 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after buying an additional 1,385 shares during the last quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,623 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $998,000 after buying an additional 564 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,416,533 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $577,908,000 after acquiring an additional 104,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NatWest Group plc increased its position in Alphabet by 239.0% in the 4th quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 100,793 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,080,000 after acquiring an additional 71,057 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

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.