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

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $205.00 to $215.00 in a research note 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 12.56% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $217.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.15.

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Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded down $1.03 on Monday, reaching $191.01. The company had a trading volume of 21,638,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,022,756. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. 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 business's 50-day moving average is $182.62 and its 200 day moving average is $172.95. Alphabet has a one year low of $130.66 and a one year high of $201.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total transaction of $473,929.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,406,343.27. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 154,387 shares of company stock worth $27,748,931 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $32,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $66,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 19.0% during the third quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. 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.