Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 1.2% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shot up 1.2% during trading on Tuesday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $335.00 to $370.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $340.49 and last traded at $335.97. 33,334,991 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 5% from the average session volume of 31,712,693 shares. The stock had previously closed at $331.86.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on GOOGL. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price (up previously from $320.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, December 19th. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, December 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, China Renaissance increased their price target on Alphabet from $207.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $326.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total transaction of $9,213,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,337,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $662,526,494.12. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of Alphabet 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,531,453.08. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 189,309 shares of company stock valued at $57,724,770 in the last three months. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major strategic wins for Gemini — Apple has chosen Google’s Gemini as the foundation for next‑generation Siri and broader device integrations, giving Alphabet unmatched distribution and a potential licensing revenue stream that underpins the recent rally. Why Apple Chose Google to Power the Future of AI
• Positive Sentiment: Product commercialization accelerating — Google launched a Personal Intelligence beta in the Gemini app (and is rolling Gemini features into Gmail), signaling faster product rollouts and clearer paths to monetize AI across Google’s services. Google launches Personal Intelligence in Gemini app
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and valuation milestone — Alphabet surpassed a $4 trillion market cap and received buy‑side bullishness (including a Bank of America price target raise), which supports further multiple expansion and momentum chasing. Alphabet Tops $4 Trillion Valuation
• Neutral Sentiment: Supply chain / hardware moves — Reports Google will develop and manufacture high‑end phones in Vietnam this year; long term this can diversify supply chains but it’s early and capex/timing make the near‑term impact modest. Google to develop, manufacture smartphones in Vietnam
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector dynamics — Articles on data‑infrastructure winners (e.g., Pure Storage) and Microsoft’s retail AI moves highlight rising demand for data centers and competition across the AI stack; these trends are broadly supportive for Alphabet’s cloud/AI TAM but also signal intensifying competition and higher capital intensity. Best Growth Stocks to Buy in 2026
• Negative Sentiment: Power and grid bottlenecks — Google executives say U.S. electrical transmission constraints and decade‑plus wait times to connect new data centers are the biggest obstacle to scaling, which could slow capacity expansion and raise deployment/capex risk. Google says US transmission system is biggest challenge
• Negative Sentiment: App‑store / reputational pressure — A coalition is urging Google to remove X and Grok from app stores, creating potential regulatory/PR friction around content moderation and platform responsibilities that could lead to policy scrutiny or compliance costs. Women’s groups call on Apple, Google to drop X and Grok

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Corsicana & Co. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $309.35 and a 200-day moving average of $252.67. The company has a market cap of $4.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.12, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.08. 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:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 8.28%.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.