Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $280.00 at Bank of America

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price hoisted by Bank of America from $252.00 to $280.00 in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the information services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on GOOGL. UBS Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $237.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Alphabet from $201.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $255.86.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $256.55 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $232.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $192.92. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $257.33. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total value of $8,129,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,369,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $592,760,192.85. This trade represents a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.92, for a total value of $145,752.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,242,778.72. This trade represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 246,150 shares of company stock valued at $55,805,379 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mystic Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 6.7% in the first quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,454 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791 shares during the period. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 27,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,187,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Cypress Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.1% during the first quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 14,310 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,213,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.9% during the first quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 88,187 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,637,000 after acquiring an additional 13,371 shares during the period. Finally, Alaethes Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the first quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC now owns 7,646 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by 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.