Westpark Capital Initiates Coverage on Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Analysts at Westpark Capital initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price target on the information services provider’s stock. Westpark Capital’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 34.42% from the stock’s current price.

GOOG has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.65.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $156.23 on Tuesday. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $148.20 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $180.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.70. The company has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. The trade was a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 87,992 shares of company stock valued at $16,093,773 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Milestone Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $812,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $206,000. Prostatis Group LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Prostatis Group LLC now owns 2,167 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Nestegg Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $218,000. Finally, Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,659,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.