Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 3.6% on Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s stock price was up 3.6% on Monday after Wedbush raised their price target on the stock from $245.00 to $260.00. Wedbush currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $270.14 and last traded at $269.27. Approximately 34,935,238 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 2% from the average daily volume of 35,794,984 shares. The stock had previously closed at $259.92.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.34.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total value of $8,129,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,369,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $592,760,192.85. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total transaction of $25,042.39. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 17,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,202,258.92. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 246,150 shares of company stock valued at $55,805,379. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 244.2% during the first quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 51,268 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,866,000 after buying an additional 36,374 shares during the last quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.6% during the first quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 9,157 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,416,000 after buying an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balance Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $272,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.6%

The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $238.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

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.