Jefferies Financial Group Raises Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $180.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price boosted by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $175.00 to $180.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 15.38% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Redburn Atlantic upped 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. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Roth Mkm decreased their price target on Alphabet from $166.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.41.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of GOOGL opened at $156.01 on Friday. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $102.63 and a 1 year high of $160.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total transaction of $2,985,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,332,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,548,095.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,548,095.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. now owns 61,499 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,591,000 after buying an additional 4,664 shares during the period. Ballast Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC now owns 15,747 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385 shares during the last quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,623 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $998,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,416,533 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $577,908,000 after buying an additional 104,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NatWest Group plc grew its position in Alphabet by 239.0% during the fourth quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 100,793 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,080,000 after buying an additional 71,057 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% 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.