DA Davidson Has Lowered Expectations for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) had its target price cut by DA Davidson from $375.00 to $350.00 in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the information services provider’s stock. DA Davidson’s target price indicates a potential upside of 9.69% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on GOOG. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $418.00 to $411.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $410.09.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $319.09 on Thursday. Alphabet has a one year low of $188.70 and a one year high of $404.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $360.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $337.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $6.24. The business had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 14.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares in the company, valued at $9,345,358.56. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Towne Trust Company N.A grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 134 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet posted a strong Q2 beat, with revenue and EPS coming in ahead of expectations, while Google Cloud revenue surged 82% and cloud margins improved sharply.
• Positive Sentiment: AI and product demand remain strong, with management saying AI usage is rising across Search, Cloud, and Gemini, supporting the long-term growth story.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts reiterated bullish views or raised targets, and multiple commentary pieces argued the stock looks attractive after the pullback.
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon signed a deal worth more than $1 billion with Google for dark fiber connectivity, adding another sign of infrastructure demand tied to Alphabet’s data-center buildout. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo is reportedly considering ending its Uber partnership, which could affect how quickly Alphabet’s robotaxi business scales, but the direct financial impact is still unclear. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also disclosed a large SpaceX stake and saw some institutional holders trim positions, but these items are secondary to the main debate over AI spending and cash flow.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors were unnerved by Alphabet’s higher CapEx guidance and negative free cash flow, which raised concerns that AI spending may be outpacing near-term returns.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet was also hit by an EU antitrust fine of about $1 billion, adding another regulatory overhang. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Moody’s warned that the industry-wide AI buildout could threaten credit quality at Alphabet and other hyperscalers, reinforcing concerns about balance-sheet strain from heavy infrastructure investment. Article Title

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.