Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $325.00 at Evercore ISI

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price objective increased by Evercore ISI from $300.00 to $325.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the information services provider’s stock.

GOOGL has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $333.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $285.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.32.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $281.48 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.76, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $242.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $198.83. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $291.59.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.92, for a total value of $145,752.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,242,778.72. This represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total transaction of $694,638.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,629,725.80. The trade was a 16.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 246,150 shares of company stock valued at $55,805,379. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 40.03% of the stock is 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.