Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Increased to $196.00 by Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price upped by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $174.00 to $196.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 13.88% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on GOOGL. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.32.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL traded up $16.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $172.11. 31,708,440 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 30,198,473. Alphabet has a one year low of $103.54 and a one year high of $174.71. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $147.22 and a 200 day moving average of $141.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.67, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Chico Wealth RIA bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $330,000. Summit Global Investments increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 67.7% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 241,463 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,598,000 after purchasing an additional 97,466 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 18.1% during the third quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $934,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.3% during the third quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 5,951 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Finally, David J Yvars Group increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.3% during the third quarter. David J Yvars Group now owns 4,170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.