Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 1.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shot up 1.1% during trading on Wednesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $150.00 to $166.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $157.08 and last traded at $156.13. 5,858,530 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 30,020,330 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.40.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Roth Mkm dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $166.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.67, for a total value of $3,502,575.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,325,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,012,608.71. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,991 shares in the company, valued at $1,275,043.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 228,839 shares of company stock worth $32,835,757. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.92, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $145.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $140.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

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.