Oppenheimer Boosts Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Price Target to $225.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) had its price target hoisted by equities researchers at Oppenheimer from $215.00 to $225.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 9.44% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on GOOG. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report 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. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.5 %

GOOG stock opened at $205.60 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.27, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $131.55 and a fifty-two week high of $207.08. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $189.70 and a 200-day moving average of $175.54.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. The firm’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,195.20. This represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 121,630 shares of company stock worth $22,258,133. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 266 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.