Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by BMO Capital Markets

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by BMO Capital Markets in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $222.00 price objective on the information services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $215.00. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 22.97% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Raymond James boosted their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Alphabet from $168.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $196.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $196.94.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded down $3.39 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $180.53. The stock had a trading volume of 4,634,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,721,426. The company has a market cap of $2.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $118.22 and a 12-month high of $191.75. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.53.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 7.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total value of $3,753,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,280,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $380,389,234.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total transaction of $3,753,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,280,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $380,389,234.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total transaction of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,728,640.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 101,988 shares of company stock valued at $17,752,805. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Hengehold Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the second quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC now owns 6,624 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 6,309 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, M. Kraus & Co boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. M. Kraus & Co now owns 6,267 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.