Citizens Jmp Downgrades Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to Hold

On January 4th, 2025, analysts at Citizens Jmp announced a downgrade of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating, according to reports from Zacks.com.

Several other research analysts have also commented on Alphabet's stock. For instance, Tigress Financial raised its price target for Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 while maintaining a "strong-buy" rating as reported on September 26th. Similarly, Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" in a report released on November 1st.

Additionally, Pivotal Research increased their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and assigned a "buy" rating on October 30th. Loop Capital raised its price target for Alphabet as well, going from $170.00 to $185.00 and maintaining a "hold" rating on November 6th. Needham & Company also reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a target price of $210.00 on October 30th.

Currently, there are nine analysts rating the stock as a hold, thirty as a buy, and four as a strong buy. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.44.

Alphabet Trading Performance

On the day of the downgrade, GOOGL opened at $191.79. Alphabet has a market capitalization of $2.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 25.44, and a P/E growth (PEG) ratio of 1.35. The stock has shown a beta of 1.01, indicating moderate volatility compared to the market.

The 50-day moving average stands at $179.71 while the 200-day moving average is $172.40. Alphabet's stock has seen a 52-week low of $130.66 and a high of $201.42.

Recent Earnings Highlights

Alphabet recently reported its quarterly earnings on October 29th, where it posted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.12, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.83 by $0.29. The company's revenue for the quarter was $88.27 billion, significantly exceeding the consensus revenue estimate of $72.85 billion. This resulted in a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity (ROE) of 31.66%. For the current fiscal year, analysts anticipate that Alphabet will report an EPS of $8.01.

Insider Transactions

In other news, John Kent Walker, an insider at Alphabet, sold 16,820 shares in a transaction dated December 30th, receiving an average price of $192.62 per share, which totals approximately $3.24 million. This sale resulted in a 27.66% decrease in Walker's total holdings in the company to 43,981 shares, valued at around $8.47 million.

Additionally, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet’s stock on October 15th at an average price of $167.23, totaling nearly $474,000 and marking a 9.71% reduction in her holdings. In the past three months, insiders have sold a total of 155,887 shares valued at nearly $28 million. Generally, corporate insiders own about 11.55% of Alphabet’s stock.

Institutional Investor Activity

Recently, various institutional investors have adjusted their positions in Alphabet. For instance, Lantz Financial LLC increased its stake in the second quarter by 10.8%, now owning 4,622 shares valued at approximately $842,000. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC also purchased new shares during the same period valued at about $218,000.

Vance Wealth Inc. increased its stake by 4.0% to 3,089 shares worth $563,000, while Instrumental Wealth LLC increased its shares by 5.0% and now holds 2,084 shares valued at $349,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC has also boosted its position by 8.1%, currently owning 30,087 shares valued at approximately $5.48 million. Overall, institutional investors hold about 40.03% of Alphabet’s stock.

About Alphabet Inc.

Alphabet Inc. is a multinational conglomerate that offers a wide range of products and services accessible in various regions including the United States, Europe, and Asia. The company operates primarily through segments such as Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets. The Google Services segment provides well-known products including ads, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, YouTube, and more.

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