Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Earns “Market Perform” Rating from JMP Securities

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at JMP Securities in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on GOOGL. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $207.08.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $192.04 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.47, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $182.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.02. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $130.66 and a twelve month high of $201.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total value of $247,425.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,342,143.80. This represents a 5.39 % 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, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 155,887 shares of company stock valued at $27,996,356. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lantz Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.8% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $842,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Vance Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% in the second quarter. Vance Wealth Inc. now owns 3,089 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Tobam boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 64.3% during the second quarter. Tobam now owns 24,833 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,523,000 after acquiring an additional 9,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% during the second quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 8,747 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,593,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.