Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Up 2.5% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) traded up 2.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to an overweight rating. The stock traded as high as $326.47 and last traded at $322.4810. 24,361,996 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 14% from the average session volume of 21,318,545 shares. The stock had previously closed at $314.55.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on GOOG. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Pivotal Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on Alphabet in a report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $316.79.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.26, for a total value of $800,786.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 11,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,383,884.14. This represents a 19.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total value of $8,129,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,369,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $592,760,192.85. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 227,965 shares of company stock worth $67,495,822 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet has overtaken Apple to become the world’s second‑largest public company by market cap, reinforcing investor confidence in Alphabet’s AI momentum and signaling potential ETF/inflow support. Alphabet’s market-cap news
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher price targets are piling up (Cantor Fitzgerald, Canaccord and others), giving buy-side momentum and a clearer near‑term valuation anchor for bullish flows. Analyst price target update
• Positive Sentiment: Product-driven monetization: Google is rolling Gemini AI features into Gmail (summaries, drafting, answers for billions of users), supporting ad/search engagement and differentiation vs. OpenAI. This underpins revenue upside expectations. Gmail Gemini features
• Positive Sentiment: Regulatory relief: reporting indicates EU’s digital-rule overhaul will avoid the strictest measures for big tech, reducing near‑term regulatory uncertainty for Google’s ad and platform businesses. EU digital rule overhaul
• Neutral Sentiment: Wiz acquisition pending: the EU will decide on Alphabet’s $32B Wiz cybersecurity buy by Feb. 10 — approval would remove a major deal overhang, but a rejection would be a setback. Outcome is binary. Wiz EU decision
• Neutral Sentiment: Fund rebalancing: Gradient Investments trimmed ~19% of its reported GOOG stake in the 12/31 13F; institutional churn can weigh on intraday flows but often reflects portfolio rebalancing rather than a negative view. Gradient Investments 13F update
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares (~$10.4M) in a disclosed SEC transaction; while routine for executives, such sales can be interpreted by some investors as a mild negative signal. Insider sale filing
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/reputational note: Alphabet and Character.AI have settled suits tied to harms allegedly caused by AI chatbots — settlement reduces litigation uncertainty but highlights regulatory and reputational risk around AI safety. Lawsuit settlement

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Morse Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 1,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,070 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Searle & CO. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Searle & CO. now owns 5,703 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,389,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 5,846 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,424,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, BankPlus Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $766,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1%

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $305.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $248.33. The company has a market cap of $3.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.