Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $205.00 to $215.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 13.36% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on GOOGL. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.15.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $189.66 on Monday. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $130.66 and a 52 week high of $201.42. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $183.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $2.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. The trade was a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total transaction of $3,990,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,084,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,672,512.16. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 130,553 shares of company stock valued at $23,817,951. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $66,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 19.0% in the third quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently 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.