Daiwa Securities Group Issues Positive Forecast for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price raised by Daiwa Securities Group from $333.00 to $380.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,MarketScreener reports. Daiwa Securities Group currently has a buy rating on the information services provider’s stock.

GOOGL has been the topic of several other research reports. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price objective (up previously from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 1st. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 price target (up from $315.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $279.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $415.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Citic Securities increased their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $359.44.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $318.57 on Tuesday. Alphabet has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $349.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $321.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $273.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.09.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. 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 is currently 7.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.55, for a total transaction of $314,001.15. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,337,229.80. The trade was a 8.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 2,067,686 shares of company stock worth $105,352,291 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Symmetry Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,476,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Members Trust Co raised its position in Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,014,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,489,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Insight 2811 Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Insight 2811 Inc. now owns 3,124 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $978,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, LJI Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,265 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,274,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts boosted targets and reiterated buys, supporting upside case for growth from AI and cloud — Daiwa lifted its target to $380 and President Capital lifted its target as well. Daiwa raises price target on Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: EU granted unconditional antitrust approval for Google’s $32B acquisition of Wiz, removing a major regulatory obstacle for the company’s largest deal and supporting cloud/security growth expectations. EU clears Wiz acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expanded fully autonomous service in Nashville, signaling progress in commercializing a core long-term growth area beyond advertising. Waymo goes fully autonomous
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet increased the size of a multi-part debt sale (reports say the raise topped $30B) as demand strengthened — provides funding for AI infrastructure but raises questions about capital structure and long-duration liabilities. Alphabet boosts debt sale above $30B
• Neutral Sentiment: Company offered voluntary exit packages to some business-unit employees — could reduce costs but also reflects strategic reorganization and execution risk. Google offers buyouts to some staff
• Negative Sentiment: Report that Google handed personal and financial data on a student/journalist to ICE (via subpoena not approved by a judge) raises privacy/regulatory and reputational risk. Google sent student data to ICE
• Negative Sentiment: European Publishers Council filed an EU antitrust complaint about Google’s AI Overviews, adding regulatory pressure around search/AI monetization. Publishers file antitrust complaint
• Negative Sentiment: Autodesk sued Google over alleged trademark infringement for AI video tools and other legal skirmishes/consumer-safety litigation are piling up — added litigation risk. Autodesk sues Google
• Negative Sentiment: High-profile critics and some investors flagged Alphabet’s century‑long debt issuance as worrisome; public comments (e.g., Michael Burry posts) add negative market sentiment. Michael Burry warns on Google

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.