Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 1.1% After Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) rose 1.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to an overweight rating. The stock traded as high as $330.54 and last traded at $326.01. Approximately 21,667,586 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 1% from the average daily volume of 21,355,178 shares. The stock had previously closed at $322.43.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on GOOG. Mizuho set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. DA Davidson set a $300.00 target price on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on Alphabet in a research note 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 issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $318.18.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.26, for a total value of $800,786.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 11,739 shares in the company, valued at $3,383,884.14. This represents a 19.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total transaction of $5,614,173.81. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 227,965 shares of company stock worth $67,495,822. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst upgrades and higher price targets boost upside expectations for GOOG, with Canaccord and others lifting targets well above prior levels — a direct catalyst for buying interest. Canaccord Raises PT to $390
• Positive Sentiment: AI product momentum: reports show Gemini gaining share versus ChatGPT and Gemini-powered features rolling into Gmail at scale — this supports stronger ad/search monetization and cloud expectations. Gemini Gains Market Share
• Positive Sentiment: Market-cap milestone: Alphabet briefly overtook Apple as the world’s No.2 public company — a sign of investor confidence that can attract index/ETF flows and reinforce momentum. Alphabet Surpasses Apple
• Neutral Sentiment: Wiz acquisition pending EU approval by Feb.10 — approval would remove a large M&A overhang; rejection would be a setback. Outcome is material but binary. EU to Decide on Wiz Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo branding/product updates signal long-term autonomy growth but limited near-term EPS impact; watch commercialization cadence. Waymo Rebrands Robotaxi
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/reputational pressure: three Democratic senators urged Apple and Google to suspend X and Grok from their app stores over sexualized images of minors created via AI — a headline that raises moderation/regulatory scrutiny for app stores and Google’s ecosystem. Senators Call to Suspend X and Grok
• Negative Sentiment: Legal exposure from AI products: Alphabet and Character.AI settled suits alleging AI chatbots harmed minors (including a teen suicide), underscoring potential costs, regulation and reputational risk. AI Lawsuit Settlements
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and talent movement: CEO Sundar Pichai disclosed a multi-million-dollar share sale; separately, Nvidia hired a Google marketing veteran — both can weigh on near-term sentiment and raise questions about insider cashing and talent retention. Pichai Share Sale

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Constitution Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $232,000. Keb Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Keb Asset Management LLC now owns 3,501 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,100,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 74,353 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $23,332,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,554,000. Finally, Clear Trail Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $481,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $306.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $249.47. The firm has a market cap of $3.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.