Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Coverage Initiated at Scotiabank

Stock analysts at Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) in a research report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target on the information services provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 28.86% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on GOOG. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $187.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.90.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $164.52 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $162.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.25. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $121.46 and a 12 month high of $193.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total transaction of $230,804.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,927,257.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.07, for a total value of $3,759,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,129,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $355,743,153.42. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,183 shares in the company, valued at $4,927,257.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 216,092 shares of company stock valued at $35,644,136. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 40,208 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,667,000 after acquiring an additional 5,018 shares during the period. Oarsman Capital Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 79,773 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,242,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. CMG Global Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $218,000. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $94,258,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $477,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

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.