Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $180.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price target increased by Sanford C. Bernstein from $165.00 to $180.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 15.38% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on GOOGL. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their price target on Alphabet from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Alphabet from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.41.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $156.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $102.63 and a fifty-two week high of $160.22. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $147.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.16. The stock has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,922.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,009,032.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Members Trust Co raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 15.8% during the first quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 3,891 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its position in Alphabet by 53.5% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 173,569 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,123,000 after buying an additional 60,520 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 62,711 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,925,000 after buying an additional 3,738 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $62,559,000. Finally, Davies Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,761,000. 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.