Pivotal Research Boosts Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Price Target to $245.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at Pivotal Research from $225.00 to $245.00 in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Pivotal Research’s target price points to a potential upside of 26.24% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on GOOG. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Westpark Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.19.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $194.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.90. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $176.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.67. The stock has a market cap of $2.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total value of $5,992,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,527,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 249,409 shares of company stock valued at $43,523,710 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% in the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $26,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robbins Farley lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% 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.