Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 1.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price rose 1.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday 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 $158.39 and last traded at $157.93. Approximately 5,806,971 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 29,767,066 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.28.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on GOOGL. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up previously from $178.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Redburn Atlantic boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $174.00 to $172.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of Alphabet 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 sale, the director now 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. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY increased its stake in Alphabet by 9.1% during the 3rd 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 boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 29,066 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,804,000 after acquiring an additional 2,640 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 44,258 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,792,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. MKT Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 6,819 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $915,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McGuire Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. McGuire Investment Group LLC now owns 62,448 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,172,000 after acquiring an additional 5,029 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $146.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.78.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.