Oppenheimer Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) had its price objective upped by Oppenheimer from $215.00 to $225.00 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the information services provider's stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on GOOG. Barclays boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research raised their price objective 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 upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.5 %

GOOG traded up $2.97 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $205.60. The stock had a trading volume of 17,059,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,640,808. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $190.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $175.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $131.55 and a 52 week high of $207.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,367 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 121,630 shares of company stock worth $22,258,133. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,747,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $966,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 3,337 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,684 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

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.