Oppenheimer Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at Oppenheimer from $215.00 to $225.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 9.44% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.5 %

Alphabet stock opened at $205.60 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $189.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.54. The stock has a market cap of $2.52 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet has a 1-year low of $131.55 and a 1-year high of $207.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 121,630 shares of company stock valued at $22,258,133 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 83,091 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,824,000 after acquiring an additional 10,960 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 18,809 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,582,000 after buying an additional 1,127 shares during the last quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 68,915 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,124,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the period. Allied Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $227,000. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $4,203,000. 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.