Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Given Buy Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $450.00 price objective on the information services provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 27.43% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on GOOGL. Pivotal Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 price objective (up from $470.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $445.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Truist Financial set a $420.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $425.72.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $1.46 on Thursday, reaching $353.12. 11,875,293 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,603,742. Alphabet has a one year low of $239.71 and a one year high of $408.61. The company has a market capitalization of $4.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50-day moving average of $345.90 and a 200 day moving average of $349.52.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.07 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 20.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total value of $2,232,808.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total value of $28,257.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,494,424.20. This represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 441,399 shares of company stock worth $8,677,053. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Core Capital Management & Research inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Premier Financial Group bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed its “Overweight” rating and assigned a $420 price target, implying roughly 19% upside from recent levels. Other coverage also expects Alphabet to reach new highs over the next year. Cantor Fitzgerald Reaffirms Overweight Rating
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud and AI momentum: Google Cloud reportedly generated $24.8 billion in second-quarter revenue, with operating income more than tripling year over year. Its $514 billion backlog reinforces expectations for future revenue growth as AI demand accelerates. Alphabet Google Cloud Is Surging
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure and energy strategy: Google’s 3.59-gigawatt nuclear power agreement with Constellation, along with a reported $13 billion Nordic data-center investment, supports its effort to secure reliable electricity for expanding AI infrastructure. Google and Constellation Nuclear Deal
• Positive Sentiment: New growth initiatives: Google launched the $180 Fitbit Edge, expanding its subscription-oriented digital-health ecosystem. Waymo’s autonomous-ride growth also adds longer-term optionality beyond advertising and cloud. Google Expands Wearables Lineup
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s large planned data-center commitments could strengthen long-term competitiveness, but rising AI capital expenditures may pressure near-term free cash flow and increase execution risk. Amazon and Alphabet Data Center Commitments
• Negative Sentiment: Litigation overhang: Several law firms are promoting a securities class action covering investors who purchased Alphabet shares between May 19 and July 16, with a November 30 lead-plaintiff deadline. The notices could weigh on sentiment, although the ultimate financial impact remains uncertain. Alphabet Securities Class Action Deadline

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc is a technology and internet services company best known as the parent company of Google. Its primary business, Google Services, includes online search, digital advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play, and a range of hardware and subscription products.

Alphabet also operates Google Cloud, which provides infrastructure, data analytics, cybersecurity, productivity software, and artificial intelligence services to businesses, governments, and other organizations.