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

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares were up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after KeyCorp raised their price target on the stock from $165.00 to $175.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $158.39 and last traded at $157.93. Approximately 5,806,971 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 29,767,066 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.28.

GOOGL has been the topic of several other reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on Alphabet from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $144.00 to $141.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Roth Mkm reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $166.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.71.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Meritage Group LP lifted its position in Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the 3rd quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 165.8% during the 3rd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.2 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $146.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.23, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect 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.