Truist Financial Boosts Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $170.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price increased by equities researchers at Truist Financial from $158.00 to $170.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Truist Financial’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 9.35% from the stock’s previous close.

GOOGL has been the subject of several other reports. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $174.00 to $172.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic raised their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.00.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $1.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $155.47. The company had a trading volume of 21,427,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,172,510. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $102.63 and a twelve month high of $160.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The stock has a market cap of $1.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $145.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.19.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 228,839 shares of company stock worth $32,835,757 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 87.7% in the 1st quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 31,457 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,748,000 after buying an additional 14,694 shares during the period. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 21,355 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. First Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 9,694 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. Saratoga Research & Investment Management lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management now owns 1,001,128 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $151,100,000 after purchasing an additional 160,884 shares during the period. Finally, Grimes & Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 176,121 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,582,000 after purchasing an additional 2,727 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.