Needham & Company LLC Raises Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $260.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price boosted by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $220.00 to $260.00 in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target points to a potential upside of 11.92% from the stock’s previous close.

GOOGL has been the subject of several other research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Alphabet from $196.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wedbush upped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.31.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $232.30 on Wednesday. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $232.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $194.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total value of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 222,210 shares of company stock valued at $41,742,155. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.