Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 2% Following Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares rose 2% during mid-day trading on Friday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $215.00 to $225.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $206.64 and last traded at $206.70. Approximately 4,388,619 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 15,573,267 shares. The stock had previously closed at $202.63.

GOOG has been the subject of a number of other reports. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group upped their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 121,630 shares of company stock valued at $22,258,133 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 83,091 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,824,000 after purchasing an additional 10,960 shares during the period. Semus Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 18,809 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,582,000 after buying an additional 1,127 shares during the period. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 68,915 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,124,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the period. Allied Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $227,000. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $2.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.27, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $189.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.54.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.