Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Now Covered by Cantor Fitzgerald

Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set a "neutral" rating and a $190.00 price target on the information services provider's stock. Cantor Fitzgerald's target price indicates a potential upside of 20.83% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $240.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Alphabet from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $202.81.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $0.79 on Thursday, hitting $157.24. The stock had a trading volume of 18,675,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,598,344. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $171.48 and a 200-day moving average of $164.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $120.21 and a 52-week high of $191.75. The company has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 312,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,765,346. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,765,346. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total value of $278,775.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 30,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,728,640.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 178,032 shares of company stock worth $29,854,224. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its holdings in Alphabet by 55.4% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 214,443 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $29,956,000 after acquiring an additional 76,410 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $787,000. New Hampshire Trust boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.7% during the second quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 43,714 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,963,000 after buying an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. Matisse Capital grew its holdings in Alphabet by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Matisse Capital now owns 16,781 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,344,000 after buying an additional 2,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Money Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $359,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.