Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $405.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price objective lifted by Arete Research from $380.00 to $405.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,MarketScreener reports. Arete Research currently has a buy rating on the information services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on GOOGL. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Alphabet from $330.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $395.00 price target (up previously from $346.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson increased their price target on Alphabet from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $361.64.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1%

GOOGL stock opened at $305.72 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $321.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $274.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $349.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.25. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.18, for a total transaction of $10,893,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,179,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $730,481,906.96. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.52, for a total value of $202,512.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 21,224 shares in the company, valued at $7,163,524.48. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 2,067,086 shares of company stock valued at $105,184,255 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $21,944,208,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,338,397,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17,667.7% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,245,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,686,640,000 after purchasing an additional 15,159,273 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 855.3% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,525,280 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,546,413,000 after purchasing an additional 13,004,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $165,567,398,000 after buying an additional 12,531,695 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and AI/cloud growth — Alphabet exceeded EPS and revenue expectations, Cloud revenue jumped ~48% and backlog expanded materially, supporting longer-term revenue and monetization from AI products. Alphabet’s Pullback: A Second Chance for Long-Term Investors?
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism — Several firms raised price targets on GOOGL (noted lifts to $375 and $380), reflecting continued confidence in growth and upside vs. the recent pullback. Price Target Raised to $375 Price Target Raised to $380
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expansion — Waymo is deploying next‑gen Ojai robotaxis and using gig workers for door-closing operations, signaling commercial progress in autonomous mobility (long-term revenue optionality). Waymo begins deploying next-gen Ojai robotaxis
• Neutral Sentiment: Strong bond demand—but guardrails questioned — Alphabet’s recent global bond sale drew very strong demand (underscoring investor confidence), while commentary noted limited contractual protections for bondholders on a long‑dated issuance. This is liquidity/market-confidence positive but raises structural concerns for fixed‑income holders. Alphabet bonds’ lack of guardrails highlights investor confidence
• Neutral Sentiment: Century‑bond debate — Heavy demand for a 100‑year sterling bond signals long-duration appetite (positive for funding flexibility) but prompts caution about untested long‑dated issuance. Why Alphabet’s 100-year sterling bond is raising new fears Bond investors are betting on another 100 years of Google
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data appears unreliable — Reports show sudden increases but list zero shares and NaN changes (likely a data glitch); not a confirmed signal of rising short pressure. (internal short‑interest entries)
• Negative Sentiment: EU antitrust probe into search ad auctions — European regulators are investigating Google’s ad-auction practices and pricing, which could lead to fines, operational constraints in Europe, or forced changes to ad platform mechanics. Google targeted by EU over its search advertising auction practices Google hit by fresh EU antitrust probe
• Negative Sentiment: CapEx and AI arms‑race fears — Alphabet’s large 2026 CapEx outlook (~$175–185B) and the broader AI infrastructure spend among hyperscalers have raised investor concern about free‑cash‑flow strain and near‑term margin/return pressures; that theme contributed to short‑term selling after earnings. Alphabet Drops 7% Post Q4 Earnings Mag 7 AI Arms Race: Heavy CapEx, FCF Strain
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech weakness — Coverage notes that several mega‑cap tech names have softened (Magnificent Seven pressure), which amplifies selloffs in high‑multiple names like GOOGL even when fundamentals remain strong. Amazon Joins Microsoft in Bear Market

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.