Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-two brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-nine have issued a buy recommendation and four have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $210.95.

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. China Renaissance upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Loop Capital increased their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total transaction of $3,975,075.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 43,005.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,086,250,000 after purchasing an additional 18,700,111 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 587.4% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,690,326 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,772,991,000 after purchasing an additional 9,135,056 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 20,990.0% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,186,748 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,171,151,000 after buying an additional 6,157,413 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 116.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,670,225 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,437,957,000 after purchasing an additional 4,662,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Alphabet by 7.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after acquiring an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $191.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.38, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $130.66 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $190.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.40.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current 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.