Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Cut to $167.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price objective reduced by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $184.00 to $167.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price points to a potential upside of 8.61% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.49.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock traded down $0.58 during trading on Monday, hitting $153.76. 22,388,286 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 27,261,963. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $147.22 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $179.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 87,992 shares of company stock valued at $16,097,111. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,178,470,000 after buying an additional 10,135,430 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after acquiring an additional 10,037,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,503,291,000 after acquiring an additional 9,042,271 shares in the last quarter. 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.