Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high on Friday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $215.00 to $225.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $205.77 and last traded at $206.32, with a volume of 1673717 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $202.63.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Pivotal Research raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $206.69.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total value of $3,990,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,084,306 shares in the company, valued at $369,672,512.16. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents 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 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. M&G PLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth $2,240,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 14.4% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $19,642,000 after purchasing an additional 14,738 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $50,488,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292 shares in the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $927,000. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 172.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,254,000 after buying an additional 57,810 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.27, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $189.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.54.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business's revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.