Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the forty-three research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and seven have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $321.9667.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 1st. DA Davidson set a $300.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday. HSBC restated a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong commercial traction for Gemini AI — reports show a surge in sales of Gemini models, supporting Alphabet’s AI revenue thesis and cloud monetization outlook. Google Sees Surge in Sales of Gemini AI Models
• Positive Sentiment: Usage growth: Gemini API calls have more than doubled in recent months, indicating rising developer and enterprise adoption that should help drive ad and cloud revenue over time. Gemini Usage Explodes as API Calls More than Double in Five Months
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street bullishness: several analysts raised targets this week (examples: UBS $345, RBC to $375, BofA $370), reinforcing upside expectations tied to AI advertising and cloud momentum. New Analyst Forecast: $GOOGL Given $345 Price Target RBC Raises Alphabet (GOOGL) Target on AI Advertising Momentum
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/sector moves: Goldman and other banks are broadly boosting tech price targets, a tailwind for sentiment but not an immediate catalyst for price action. Goldman Sachs Raising Price Targets 10%+ on Tech and Financial Blue Chip Giants
• Neutral Sentiment: Positive longer-term narrative: multiple pieces highlight strong Q4 results, a large AI-driven cloud backlog and historical shareholder returns, supporting a constructive medium-term case. Investors’ Confidence Boosted Alphabet (GOOG) in Q4
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/headline risk: President Trump’s tariff rhetoric (Greenland) and EU tariff talk spurred a tech-led selloff that pressured GOOG alongside peers — a short-term headwind unrelated to fundamentals. NVDA, GOOGL, AMZN: Trump’s Greenland Gambit Rattles Big Tech as EU Weighs Salvo
• Negative Sentiment: Outperformance fade / profit-taking: coverage noted Alphabet fell more than the broader market today, reflecting profit-taking after strong 2025 gains. Here’s Why Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) Fell More Than Broader Market
• Negative Sentiment: Isomorphic Labs delay: Google-backed drug-discovery unit pushed its first clinical trials to late 2026, trimming a speculative long-term upside driver. Google-backed AI drug discovery startup Isomorphic Labs delays clinical trial timeline
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling highlighted by data services (large recent insider disposals) can amplify short-term caution among some investors. New Analyst Forecast: $GOOGL Given $345 Price Target (insider data)

Alphabet Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $322.16 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $313.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $258.16. The company has a market capitalization of $3.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.77, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $341.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. Analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.50, for a total value of $10,383,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,272,119 shares in the company, valued at $725,942,020.50. This trade represents a 1.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 192,687 shares of company stock valued at $58,728,068 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 400.0% during the second quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Robbins Farley boosted its position in Alphabet by 60.0% during the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $40,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.