Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Earns “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $210.00 price objective on the information services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. TD Securities lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Alphabet from $290.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an outperform rating and set a $222.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an outperform rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $203.74.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.1 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $167.28 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $120.21 and a twelve month high of $191.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $179.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $160.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.96% and a net margin of 26.70%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total value of $3,753,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,280,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $380,389,234.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total value of $3,753,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,280,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $380,389,234.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.67, for a total value of $113,668.94. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at $4,880,764.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 122,388 shares of company stock valued at $21,497,609 over the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 59.2% in the first quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 293 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is 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.