Analyst Update: Alphabet Inc, Icahn Enterprises LP, and Priceline Group Inc

Analysts are weighing in on tech heavyweight Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), holding company Icahn Enterprises LP (NASDAQ:IEP), and travel stock Priceline Group Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN). Here's a quick roundup of today's brokerage notes on GOOGL, IEP, and PCLN.

• Evercore ISI weighed in on a number of stocks, and for GOOGL, that meant a price-target hike to $950 from $830 -- in record-high territory. Right now, though, the stock is 0.2% lower at $803.52, just days after touching an all-time best of $813.88. Today's bullish brokerage attention is business as usual for Alphabet Inc. Thirty analysts have coverage on the stock, and 28 recommend buying it. Not to mention, GOOGL's average 12-month price target of $938.81 stands at a 16.8% premium to current levels. Plus, on the options exchanges, call buying has been very popular of late.

• IEP has tanked 6.9% at $54.32, burned by a downgrade to "sell" from "neutral" at UBS -- which also slashed its price target to $30 from $52. It's been a rocky year for the shares, dropping more than 11%, and seeing a recent rally rejected by the 200-day moving average. Not surprisingly, open interest on Icahn Enterprises LP is nearing an annual put-skewed extreme. Specifically, the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) sits at a top-heavy 3.09, besting 95% of all other readings from the prior year.

• PCLN is gaining ground on an upgrade to "buy" from "hold" at Evercore ISI, which also raised its target price by $300 to $1,650. The stock has never reached that level, topping out at a record $1,476.52 last November, and last seen 1.4% higher at $1,447.60. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), Priceline Group Inc traders have been scooping up bearish bets over bullish at an accelerated rate. PCLN's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.02 outstrips roughly four out of every five readings taken in the past 12 months.