JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $340.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price target upped by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $300.00 to $340.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the information services provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 20.86% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on GOOGL. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets set a $294.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.98.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $281.31 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.74, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $244.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $199.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $291.59.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at $4,236,785. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 246,150 shares of company stock worth $55,805,379 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $31,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% 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.