Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) PT Raised to $195.00 at Morgan Stanley

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price upped by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $195.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 13.41% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Roth Mkm dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $166.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.82.

Alphabet Trading Up 10.2 %

Alphabet stock opened at $171.95 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $147.85 and its 200-day moving average is $141.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $103.54 and a 1 year high of $174.71. The company has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at $347,832,416.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at $347,832,416.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,326,922.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 253,439 shares of company stock worth $36,746,578. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Meritage Group LP lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1,061.5% in the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 165.8% in the third quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.