Morgan Stanley Cuts Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $210.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price decreased by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 1.75% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, January 27th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.87.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $206.38 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $130.66 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $190.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.40.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at $4,529,987.28. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 100,029 shares of company stock valued at $18,462,883 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. WT Wealth Management bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $226,000. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 91,757 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,370,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its position in Alphabet by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 2,020,660 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $382,511,000 after purchasing an additional 43,400 shares during the last quarter. MKD Wealth Coaches LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Finally, Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 3,865 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $732,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently 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.