Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Receives “Buy” Rating from DZ Bank

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by research analysts at DZ Bank in a report released on Thursday,MarketScreener Latest Ratings reports.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $320.00 in a report on Tuesday. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Alphabet from $260.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $233.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Citic Securities boosted their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.33.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $3.36 during trading on Thursday, reaching $289.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 59,670,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,104,879. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $306.42. The company has a market capitalization of $3.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $260.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $211.57.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total transaction of $9,213,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,337,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $662,526,494.12. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.26, for a total transaction of $800,786.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 11,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,383,884.14. The trade was a 19.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 192,674 shares of company stock valued at $48,454,423 over the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 during the period. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.4% in the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.