Raymond James Increases Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $200.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at Raymond James from $160.00 to $200.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Raymond James’ price target suggests a potential upside of 16.31% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on GOOGL. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $174.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.82.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $171.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. Alphabet has a fifty-two week low of $103.54 and a fifty-two week high of $174.71. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $141.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,402.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,402.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 253,439 shares of company stock valued at $36,746,578. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Meritage Group LP grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1,061.5% in the 3rd quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 165.8% in the 3rd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is 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.