Wedbush Analysts Lift Earnings Estimates for Alphabet

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) – Investment analysts at Wedbush lifted their Q3 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Alphabet in a research report issued on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush analyst S. Devitt now expects that the information services provider will earn $1.81 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.75. The consensus estimate for Alphabet’s current full-year earnings is $7.64 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Alphabet’s Q4 2024 earnings at $2.00 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $7.58 EPS.

GOOG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Pivotal Research started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $215.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Scotiabank started coverage on Alphabet in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $204.00 to $187.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.90.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of GOOG opened at $166.99 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $163.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $121.46 and a 1 year high of $193.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.04.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY now owns 142,477 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $21,694,000 after buying an additional 1,387 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.2% in the first quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 38,835 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,913,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the period. Saratoga Research & Investment Management boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management now owns 14,706 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,239,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. First Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 28,604 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,355,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Meritas Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $206,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at $4,421,948.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 220,426 shares of company stock worth $35,993,340. Corporate insiders own 12.99% 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.