Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Lowered to $229.00 at Citigroup

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price objective lowered by Citigroup from $232.00 to $229.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the information services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on GOOGL. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.95.

Alphabet Stock Down 7.3 %

GOOGL opened at $191.33 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $130.66 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $190.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.40. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total transaction of $3,975,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,061,806 shares in the company, valued at $364,259,266.02. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position 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 buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.