TD Cowen Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) had its target price increased by research analysts at TD Cowen from $270.00 to $280.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the information services provider’s stock. TD Cowen’s price objective points to a potential upside of 15.60% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. BNP Paribas cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $241.00.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $242.21 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $189.21. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $256.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total transaction of $149,664.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,716 shares in the company, valued at $1,425,799.04. This represents a 9.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 276,738 shares of company stock worth $59,135,475. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its stake in Alphabet by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 16,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,968,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199 shares during the period. TradeWell Securities LLC. raised its stake in Alphabet by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. TradeWell Securities LLC. now owns 15,176 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,726,000 after acquiring an additional 1,086 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $943,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Financial Enhancement Group LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $350,000. Finally, Centurion Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,452 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,789,000 after acquiring an additional 2,005 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% 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.