Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Cut to Hold at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on GOOGL. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 price objective (up from $250.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. New Street Research raised their price target on Alphabet from $275.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Wolfe Research set a $380.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $365.00 target price (up previously from $320.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $365.00 target price (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-two have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $330.94.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $330.52 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 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 has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $340.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $314.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $258.45.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total transaction of $5,614,173.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 189,909 shares of company stock worth $57,927,282 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.4% during the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 142.9% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst price‑target raises have lifted sentiment — Raymond James raised its target to $400, Deutsche Bank to $370, and Wedbush to $360, all signaling higher earnings/AI potential expectations for GOOGL. Alphabet Stock Rises — Raymond James Hikes Price Target to $400
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expanded its robotaxi service to Miami — operational progress at Waymo highlights Alphabet’s long‑term autonomous‑driving opportunity and potential new revenue channels. Waymo launches robotaxi service in Miami, extending U.S. lead
• Positive Sentiment: Google awarded long‑term power purchase agreements to Clearway Energy for data‑center carbon‑free energy — improves sustainability profile and predictable energy costs for cloud/data infrastructure. Alphabet’s Google Awards PPAs to Clearway Energy to Receive Carbon-Free Energy For Its Data Centers
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary and sector pieces continue to cite Alphabet’s vertical AI integration (Gemini, TPUs, Cloud partnerships) as a durable competitive advantage — supports higher multiples and long‑term growth expectations. Google Stock Is Up 65: What’s Driving This Rally?
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat flagged a modest pullback from record highs and advised patience for new buyers — technical consolidation vs. an outright sell‑off; key support near $300 could matter for timing buys. Alphabet Cools After the Run: Buy Now or Wait for a Better Entry?
• Neutral Sentiment: YouTube leadership is prioritizing management of AI‑generated content — important for user trust and ad ecosystem health, but mainly an operational/PR item rather than near‑term revenue catalyst. YouTube chief says ‘managing AI slop’ is a priority for 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary (Jim Cramer) notes rotation away from Magnificent Seven during short‑term sector moves, though he expects rotation back eventually — suggests potential volatility from flow shifts. Jim Cramer says he’s not abandoning the Mag 7 stocks despite recent struggles. Here’s why
• Negative Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Alphabet from “strong‑buy” to “hold” — a reminder that some sell‑side views are trimming near‑term upside, which can weigh on momentum if followed by others. Cantor Fitzgerald Downgrades Alphabet

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.