Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Earns “Outperform” Rating from Wedbush

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by Wedbush in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $205.00 price objective on the information services provider’s stock. Wedbush’s price target indicates a potential upside of 27.12% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. DA Davidson started coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, October 7th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Alphabet from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.76.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL traded down $1.51 during trading on Thursday, reaching $161.27. 1,539,749 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,775,354. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $120.21 and a 1 year high of $191.75. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $161.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $168.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total transaction of $3,741,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,106,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $350,361,837.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at $5,264,112. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total transaction of $3,741,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,106,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $350,361,837.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 220,426 shares of company stock worth $35,993,340 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Riverview Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 7,758 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 133,661 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $20,173,000 after buying an additional 2,430 shares during the period. West Coast Financial LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 134,101 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $20,240,000 after buying an additional 2,437 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 36.8% in the 1st quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 5,809 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $877,000 after buying an additional 1,563 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 142,098 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $21,447,000 after buying an additional 3,708 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.