Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Cut to $208.00 by Analysts at Piper Sandler

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price objective dropped by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from $210.00 to $208.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 9.03% from the company’s current price.

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.95.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $15.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $190.78. The company had a trading volume of 39,873,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,522,469. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $190.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.40. The firm has a market cap of $2.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $130.66 and a 52 week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total value of $1,862,805.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 319,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,765,168.06. This trade represents a 3.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 100,029 shares of company stock worth $18,462,883 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently 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.