Westpark Capital Begins Coverage on Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Investment analysts at Westpark Capital initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price target on the information services provider’s stock. Westpark Capital’s price target suggests a potential upside of 32.19% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.65.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $158.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.73, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $148.20 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $179.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.56.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 87,297 shares of company stock valued at $15,936,270 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% 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.