Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Raised to Strong-Buy at Westpark Capital

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was upgraded by analysts at Westpark Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.49.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $157.04 on Tuesday. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $147.22 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $177.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $550,702.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at $3,468,029.04. This trade represents a 13.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,195.20. This represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 87,297 shares of company stock worth $15,936,270 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its stake in Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.