Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 0.1% After Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shot up 0.1% during trading on Monday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $165.00 to $175.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $156.48 and last traded at $154.26. 7,393,629 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 29,834,469 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.09.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $168.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,275,043.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares in the company, valued at $1,275,043.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% during the third quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 2,515 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 10.0% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 29,066 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,804,000 after acquiring an additional 2,640 shares during the period. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% in the third quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 44,258 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,792,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. MKT Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.2% in the third quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 6,819 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, McGuire Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 8.8% in the third quarter. McGuire Investment Group LLC now owns 62,448 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,172,000 after acquiring an additional 5,029 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.78. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

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.