Alphabet's (GOOG) "Outperform" Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

Wedbush reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday morning,RTT News reports. They currently have a $220.00 price target on the information services provider's stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $206.69.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock traded up $2.97 on Thursday, reaching $205.60. 17,059,516 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,222,196. 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 has a 12 month low of $131.55 and a 12 month high of $207.08. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $189.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.52 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.27, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. The business's revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the transaction, the director now owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 121,630 shares of company stock worth $22,258,133. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 111.0% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 69,259 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,704,000 after purchasing an additional 36,439 shares during the period. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $216,000. Ashburton Jersey Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $23,681,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,594,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 1,020 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

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.