Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $395.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price raised by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $370.00 to $395.00 in a report issued on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s target price points to a potential upside of 16.35% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on GOOGL. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Bank of America upped their price target on Alphabet from $335.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Phillip Securities raised their price objective on Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $375.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $415.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.94.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $2.18 on Monday, hitting $339.50. The stock had a trading volume of 2,547,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 32,375,328. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $146.10 and a twelve month high of $349.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.46, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $306.82 and a 200 day moving average of $302.17.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total transaction of $348,232.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,187,638.65. This represents a 22.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.89, for a total transaction of $10,006,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,642,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,573,853.40. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,069,794 shares of company stock worth $104,854,147. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,534,239,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $4,338,397,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 855.3% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,525,280 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,546,413,000 after purchasing an additional 13,004,828 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in Alphabet by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,910,542,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605,785 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp raised its price target on GOOGL from $370 to $380 and reiterated an “overweight” rating, signaling analysts see meaningful upside from current levels. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: A separate note flagged a $400 price target in market write-ups, adding to bullish analyst momentum that can support sentiment and buying interest. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports say Google is in talks with Marvell to develop two new AI chips (TPUs). The talks are still at the reporting stage, but the move would fit Google’s push to optimize AI performance and costs — potentially positive long term if confirmed. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader institutional interest (reports that Bridgewater/ Ray Dalio holds Alphabet among AI-focused positions and multiple bullish pieces on Alphabet’s AI leadership) supports a constructive narrative for longer-term investors. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst and media coverage also highlights investor concern that Alphabet will sharply increase AI spending (reports it may roughly double AI capex), which contributed to a sharp pullback earlier this month and remains a near-term margin/earnings risk. Read More.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.