Stifel Nicolaus Increases Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $196.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $174.00 to $196.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target indicates a potential upside of 13.99% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on GOOGL. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Alphabet from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up previously from $178.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Redburn Atlantic boosted their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Alphabet from $141.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.82.

Alphabet Stock Up 10.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $171.95 on Friday. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $103.54 and a 1 year high of $174.71. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet will post 6.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $369,096.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $369,096.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 253,439 shares of company stock valued at $36,746,578 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 493,810,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $68,980,354,000 after purchasing an additional 6,374,756 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,746,764,000 after purchasing an additional 12,070,681 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $15,441,917,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Alphabet by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,684,197 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,857,154,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416,328 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,220,857 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,316,902,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472,043 shares during the period. 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.