Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Given New $225.00 Price Target at Needham & Company LLC

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $210.00 to $225.00 in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 12.38% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on GOOGL. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.82.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $200.21 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $186.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.57. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $130.66 and a 12-month high of $202.29. The company has a market capitalization of $2.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’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 sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Bennett Selby Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,864,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Denver PWM LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 25.4% during the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 15,078 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,892,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 7,433 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,407,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently 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.