Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Earns Market Perform Rating from JMP Securities

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at JMP Securities in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on GOOGL. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group set a $190.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $207.38.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $4.72 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $153.99. 12,647,186 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 28,018,457. The company has a market capitalization of $1.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.20, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $170.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.32.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

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.