Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $310.00 at Citic Securities

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price lifted by research analysts at Citic Securities from $230.00 to $310.00 in a research note issued on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Citic Securities’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 11.26% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $306.00 target price (up previously from $255.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 price objective (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, HSBC raised their price target on Alphabet from $295.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $303.09.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $278.63 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $245.50 and its 200 day moving average is $201.24. Alphabet has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $291.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company has a market cap of $3.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Research analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $558,219,089.16. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $680,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at $4,236,785. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 222,442 shares of company stock worth $51,200,307 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $21,944,208,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,317,606,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 17,667.7% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,686,640,000 after buying an additional 15,159,273 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $78,839,544,000 after buying an additional 14,307,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 51.7% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,817,684 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,607,232,000 after buying an additional 10,843,853 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% 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.