TD Cowen Issues Positive Forecast for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) had its price target increased by TD Cowen from $350.00 to $355.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a buy rating on the information services provider’s stock.

GOOG has been the topic of several other research reports. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $365.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, January 5th. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price (up previously from $350.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $318.36.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $336.43 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $309.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $252.82. Alphabet has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $341.20.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.21, for a total transaction of $10,439,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,244,372 shares in the company, valued at $720,914,730.12. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total value of $5,614,173.81. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. The trade was a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 192,087 shares of company stock valued at $58,525,556. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 416,753,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $73,927,821,000 after buying an additional 5,182,111 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 188,914,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $33,511,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,428,266 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 580,897.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 135,087,705 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $23,963,208,000 after acquiring an additional 135,064,454 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 107,760,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,022,926,000 after acquiring an additional 441,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,240,469,000 after acquiring an additional 7,904,434 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple chose Google’s Gemini to power next‑generation Siri, creating a multi‑year licensing relationship that provides Google a large, high‑margin cloud customer and distribution into ~2bn Apple devices—an immediate revenue and strategic moat boost. Google and Apple enter into multi-year AI deal for Gemini models
• Positive Sentiment: Market optimism around AI and stronger cloud execution pushed Alphabet into the $4 trillion valuation club, reinforcing investor confidence that Gemini and Google Cloud can materially reshape growth and margins. Alphabet hits $4 trillion valuation as AI refocus lifts sentiment
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and sell‑side shops are raising targets and reiterating the bull case (TD Cowen raised its target to $355 and Jefferies highlighted the company’s data moat and cloud upside), supporting near‑term buy interest. TD Cowen raises price target Jefferies: data moat & cloud growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Market positioning and option flows show some traders view GOOG as still relatively undervalued to analyst targets; short‑dated put selling has been productive, which can moderate volatility but also signals crowded bullish positioning. Put yields and undervaluation note
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet plans to develop and manufacture high‑end smartphones in Vietnam this year—a strategic supply‑chain/production move that diversifies hardware execution but is not an immediate earnings driver. Google to develop, manufacture phones in Vietnam
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors and analysts warn valuation is stretched after a strong 2025 rally; several notes have shifted from “strong buy” to “buy” citing compressed upside and that much of the AI upside may already be priced in. Seeking Alpha: downgrade to Buy on valuation
• Negative Sentiment: Some funds trimmed GOOGL holdings in recent filings (reported reductions by a few managers), which could add selling pressure if larger managers follow suit; public criticism from industry figures (e.g., Elon Musk) adds headline noise but is unlikely to change fundamentals. Fund filing: Davenport trims GOOGL Musk criticizes Apple‑Google deal

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.