Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Rating Lowered to Moderate Buy at Phillip Securities

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Phillip Securities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

GOOGL has been the topic of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.44.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $234.04 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $238.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s fifty day moving average is $196.95 and its 200 day moving average is $175.73.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.60 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,200. This represents a 12.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.