Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading 2% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) was up 2% during trading 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 $206.64 and last traded at $206.70. Approximately 4,388,619 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 15,573,267 shares. The stock had previously closed at $202.63.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Pivotal Research upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm'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 directly owns 2,084,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,672,512.16. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 121,630 shares of company stock worth $22,258,133. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 10,960 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 18,809 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127 shares in the last quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 68,915 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,124,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. Allied Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $227,000. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $189.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.54.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its 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 $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. Alphabet's revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.