Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Earns Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $330.00 price target on the information services provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 1.36% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on GOOGL. Citizens Jmp upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Alphabet from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price objective (up previously from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Citic Securities upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-two have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $334.60.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $334.55 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $317.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $262.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.99, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.08. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $340.49.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total value of $9,213,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,337,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $662,526,494.12. The trade was a 1.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total value of $867,569.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 8,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,798,832.60. The trade was a 23.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 222,409 shares of company stock valued at $68,564,532 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 516,559,609 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $91,033,300,000 after buying an additional 6,733,278 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,524,841,000 after acquiring an additional 4,008,374 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 141,615,284 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,857,017,000 after acquiring an additional 4,224,497 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $21,944,208,000. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,910,542,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605,785 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google is accelerating targeted AI acquisitions, talent deals and strategic investments to strengthen Gemini across media generation, voice and international distribution — a direct growth play that supports future revenue and product differentiation. Google Accelerates AI Deals to Strengthen Gemini in Media and Voice
• Positive Sentiment: High-profile portfolios remain bullish on AI exposure: the Pelosi-linked filing rolled GOOGL exposure into long-dated call positions (LEAPS), a leveraged vote of confidence that institutional-style investors expect continued upside from AI leaders. Pelosi’s Bullish 2026 Buy List: AI, Power & Dividends
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains constructive (recent price-target lift and buy-rating reaffirmations), which can underpin multiple expansion and investor confidence into earnings. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $390.00
• Neutral Sentiment: EU regulators are stepping in to ensure rivals get access to Gemini services/data and have opened proceedings to assist Google in complying with the Digital Markets Act — this clarifies compliance expectations but signals potential constraints on product exclusivity. EU starts proceedings to assist Google in complying with tech rules
• Neutral Sentiment: Competitive AI infrastructure developments (e.g., Microsoft’s Maia 200 chip) raise the bar on efficiency and pricing in the cloud/inference market — a sector-level dynamic that could affect GCP cost structure or pricing power over time. Microsoft’s Maia 200: The Profit Engine AI Needs
• Negative Sentiment: Google agreed to a preliminary $68M settlement over claims its voice assistant spied on users — a modest direct cost but a reputational and regulatory reminder that privacy/legal risks persist. Google pays $68 million to settle claims its voice assistant spied on users
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Sundar Pichai reported an insider sale of roughly $10.6M of Alphabet shares ahead of earnings — routine windowed selling but a near-term negative signal some investors watch before an earnings event. Sundar Pichai Offloads Alphabet Shares Worth $10.6M Ahead of February 4 Earnings

Alphabet Company Profile

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.