JMP Securities Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price target boosted by equities research analysts at JMP Securities from $200.00 to $220.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market outperform” rating on the information services provider’s stock. JMP Securities’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 24.61% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 price objective (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Pivotal Research upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.87.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock traded up $6.87 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $176.55. 49,591,430 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 27,049,160. The firm has a market cap of $2.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.01, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $162.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.74. Alphabet has a 1-year low of $122.68 and a 1-year high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet will post 7.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,264,112. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total transaction of $3,652,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,182,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $354,310,204.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total transaction of $114,576.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,264,112. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 220,426 shares of company stock valued at $35,993,340. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank increased its position in Alphabet by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 1,655 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MKT Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 7,363 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.