Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Given New $281.00 Price Target at BNP Paribas Exane

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price objective upped by equities research analysts at BNP Paribas Exane from $247.00 to $281.00 in a research report issued on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the information services provider’s stock. BNP Paribas Exane’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 0.85% from the stock’s previous close.

GOOGL has been the subject of several other reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $330.00 target price (up from $285.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets set a $294.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Roth Capital upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Citic Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $303.09.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.8%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $278.63 on Monday. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $291.59. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $245.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $201.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total value of $7,466,225.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $558,219,089.16. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 222,442 shares of company stock valued at $51,200,307. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 506 shares during the period. Rovin Capital UT ADV lifted its position in Alphabet by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 10,843 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 933 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,908,021 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $449,696,000 after acquiring an additional 34,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.9% during the first quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC now owns 25,619 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,962,000 after acquiring an additional 483 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.