Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Citigroup from $343.00 to $350.00 in a research note issued on Friday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 15.76% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Mizuho set a $325.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Moffett Nathanson upped their target price on Alphabet from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $335.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $265.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $315.31.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $302.35 on Friday. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $328.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $287.77 and a 200-day moving average of $232.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.65 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total transaction of $867,569.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,798,832.60. The trade was a 23.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total transaction of $184,914.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,206,872.04. This trade represents a 13.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 226,128 shares of company stock worth $63,183,331. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,886,000 after buying an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. United Bank raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 45,084 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,972,000 after buying an additional 910 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 27,114 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,193,000 after buying an additional 3,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waddell & Associates LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 7,437 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after buying an additional 959 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.