Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 1.6% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares traded up 1.6% during trading on Monday after Wolfe Research raised their price target on the stock from $380.00 to $390.00. Wolfe Research currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $335.84 and last traded at $333.26. 25,166,059 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 20% from the average session volume of 31,299,029 shares. The stock had previously closed at $327.93.

Several other research firms also recently commented on GOOGL. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $345.00 target price (up from $306.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $346.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Alphabet from $260.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-two have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $334.60.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the business’s 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 approximately $2,798,832.60. The trade was a 23.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total value of $5,614,173.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,531,453.08. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 222,409 shares of company stock valued at $68,564,532 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.55% 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

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $31,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. grew its stake in Alphabet by 36.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co raised its holdings in Alphabet by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.4%

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $317.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $262.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market cap of $4.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The company had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

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.