Pivotal Research Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price target raised by equities research analysts at Pivotal Research from $215.00 to $225.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Pivotal Research’s price target points to a potential upside of 28.15% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on GOOGL. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Scotiabank raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.51.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $5.89 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $175.57. The company had a trading volume of 58,259,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,090,436. The company has a fifty day moving average of $162.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $122.68 and a 12 month high of $191.75. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 7.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total value of $3,741,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,106,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $350,361,837.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total transaction of $3,741,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,106,806 shares in the company, valued at $350,361,837.80. 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 at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total value of $247,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,342,143.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 220,426 shares of company stock worth $35,993,340. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 1,655 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, MKT Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 7,363 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. 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.