Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, CIBC Analyst Says

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at CIBC to $315.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,MarketScreener reports. CIBC’s target price indicates a potential upside of 25.77% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets set a $294.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.60.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $250.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $257.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $233.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total value of $8,129,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,369,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $592,760,192.85. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 246,150 shares of company stock worth $55,805,379. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Breakwater Investment Management grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 4,228 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,045 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Kooman & Associates grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 1,343 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Wallington Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wallington Asset Management LLC now owns 3,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $808,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.