Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Given New $180.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from $175.00 to $180.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the information services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on GOOGL. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an outperform rating and set a $185.00 target price (up previously from $178.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. JMP Securities reissued a market outperform rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $174.00 to $172.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $158.71.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $156.28 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $146.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $140.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.94, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $102.63 and a 52 week high of $160.22. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 87.5% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 300 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Meritage Group LP raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.