Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $236.00 to $268.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the information services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on GOOGL. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Melius Research raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $255.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $294.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.32.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $281.48 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $242.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $198.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $291.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 36.08% and a net margin of 32.23%.The company had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $680,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 246,150 shares of company stock worth $55,805,379. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $20,886,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 305,027 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,169,000 after acquiring an additional 5,892 shares during the last quarter. Victrix Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the first quarter. Victrix Investment Advisors now owns 45,301 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,849,000 after acquiring an additional 1,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.8% during the first quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 63,325 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,793,000 after acquiring an additional 9,549 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.