By Benjamin Pimentel, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Two classes of Google Inc. shares
created after a 2-for-1 stock split rose sharply as they began
trading Thursday, although the shares gave some gains as tech
stocks traded mostly lower.
The new class of nonvoting Class C shares(GOOG) trading under
"GOOG" climbed 0.5% to close at $569.74 , while Class A shares
(GOOGL) trading under the new ticker "GOOGL" gained 0.6% to close
at $571.50. Shareholders received the two shares for every Class A
stock they owned.
Google implemented the stock split, which became official after
Wednesday's closing bell, as a way to make it easier for founders
Larry Page and Sergey Brin to maintain control of the Internet
giant.
At least two analysts reaffirmed a buy rating on the stock given
Google's dominant market position and robust financials.
"We remain positive on shares of Google given our expectations
for continued search strength, strong mobile position, and an
attractive valuation," Raymond James analyst Aaron Kessler told
clients in a note in which he kept an outperform rating. Kessler
set a price target of $660.
Topeka Capital's Victor Anthony also maintained an outperform
rating on Google, telling clients, "While there is no change to net
income from the share split, we are increasing pro forma earnings
estimates to reflect the move of Motorola operating losses to
discontinued operations. In addition, we are doubling the number of
shares outstanding due to the split."
Anthony set his 2014 earnings per share estimate at $27.30 and
his 2015 earnings per share target at $30.94. He maintained an
outperform rating with a split-adjusted $675 price target.
The tech sector initially got a boost from shares of Pandora
Media (P), which rose after the Internet radio company reported
stronger listener gains in March. But the stock later fell 5.1% to
close at $29.85.
The sector was also weighed down by shares of Twitter Inc.
(TWTR) , which were down 3.7% to close at $44.05, and Microsoft
Corp.(MSFT) , which was off 1% to close at $41.01. Hewlett-Packard
(HPQ) shed 1.8% to close at $33 and Apple Inc. (AAPL) fell 0.7% to
close at $538.79.
The Nasdaq Composite Index(RIXF) fell 0.9% to close at 4,238.
The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) shed a fraction, while
the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) climbed 0.2%.
Also read:
Amazon Fire TV wows Gary Busey, but analyst says Apple, Roku
shouldn't fret
Microsoft explains why Cortana is better than Siri
Follow U.S. market action on the live blog
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires