Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Given New $260.00 Price Target at Needham & Company LLC

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price target increased by Needham & Company LLC from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 23.02% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on GOOGL. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $172.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, June 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.08.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $211.35 on Wednesday. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $214.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $2.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.41.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 240,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 222,210 shares of company stock worth $41,742,155. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the first 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 in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other 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.