Jefferies Financial Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) had its price objective increased by Jefferies Financial Group from $220.00 to $235.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 36.08% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on GOOG. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. DA Davidson raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Alphabet from $204.00 to $187.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $172.69 on Wednesday. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $123.93 and a 52-week high of $193.31. The company has a market cap of $2.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $163.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.32.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 7.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total transaction of $3,652,875.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,182,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $354,310,204.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,765,346. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total transaction of $3,652,875.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,182,385 shares in the company, valued at $354,310,204.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 219,744 shares of company stock worth $35,878,764. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 62.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 260 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% 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.