Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Downgraded to “Market Perform” Rating by JMP Securities

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was downgraded by stock analysts at JMP Securities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. DA Davidson began coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.69.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $189.30 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.11, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.28. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $130.66 and a 1 year high of $201.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total value of $247,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 26,324 shares in the company, valued at $4,342,143.80. This represents a 5.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total transaction of $473,929.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at $4,406,343.27. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 137,588 shares of company stock worth $24,473,081. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 43,005.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,086,250,000 after buying an additional 18,700,111 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 587.4% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,690,326 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,772,991,000 after acquiring an additional 9,135,056 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 116.4% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,670,225 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,437,957,000 after acquiring an additional 4,662,809 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 18,810.2% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,434,260 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $807,700,000 after purchasing an additional 4,410,811 shares during the last quarter. 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.