According to a report published by Bloomberg, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) is getting ready to file a second monopoly lawsuit against the Internet search giant, Google (GOOGL), over its digital advertising business, a person familiar with the matter said.
A total of 38 U.S. states and territories have accused Google of abusing its market position as it seeks to make its search engine equally dominant in segments like speakers, TVs and cars as it is in phones. Meanwhile, Texas and other states have filed another lawsuit against the company and accused it of violating antitrust laws in running its online advertising business.
In response, Google said that its “advertising technologies help websites and apps fund their content, enable small businesses to grow, and protect users from exploitative privacy practices and bad ad experiences.” (See Google stock chart on TipRanks)
Last week, Raymond James analyst Aaron Kessler reiterated a Buy rating on the stock and raised the price target from $2,750 to $3,200 (10.2% upside potential).
The analyst said, “While Q2 comps will start to get more difficult in H2, we continue to expect robust growth for Google across the board and meaningfully increased estimates (2021/2021 revenues increase by 5%/8%).”
Overall, the stock has a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 30 unanimous Buys. The average Google price target of $3,173.55 implies 9.3% upside potential. The company’s shares have gained 69.1% over the past year.
According to TipRanks’ Smart Score rating system, Google scores a “Perfect 10,” suggesting that the stock is likely to outperform market averages.
Related News:
Ingersoll Initiates Common Stock Dividend; Approves Buyback
Nutanix Pops 4% After-Hours on Better-Than-Expected Q4 Results
Chewy Slips 10% After-Hours on Q2 Miss
