Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Up 1.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Monday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock from $410.00 to $420.00. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $321.63 and last traded at $321.3880. Approximately 18,759,929 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 33,279,965 shares. The stock had previously closed at $317.24.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. China Renaissance lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $330.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $335.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Truist Financial set a $385.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,987,279.15. This trade represents a 78.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $35,060,852.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 2,068,744 shares of company stock valued at $104,505,914 in the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Broadcom extended a multi‑year agreement with Google to supply chips for TPUs through 2031, which UBS says eases investor concerns about Google’s chip sourcing and supports near‑term AI infrastructure demand. Broadcom deal with Google signals stronger AI demand but long-term risks remain: UBS
• Positive Sentiment: Favorable AI deal coverage (Anthropic/TPU opportunity) and bullish commentary position Alphabet as an AI‑infrastructure play, reinforcing upside expectations for revenue from cloud and TPU sales. Catalyst Alert: Anthropic Deal Makes Alphabet Stock a Must-Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Large investor activity: Stanley Druckenmiller materially increased his Alphabet stake last quarter, a high‑profile buy that can lift sentiment among momentum and institutional investors. Stanley Druckenmiller Made 1 Huge Bet That Still Looks Attractive Today and Cut 2 Top Positions
• Positive Sentiment: Operational/strategy tailwinds: Google is funding nationwide AI training for manufacturing workers, supporting enterprise adoption of its AI stack and strengthening longer‑term demand for cloud/AI services. Google partners on AI training for thousands of American manufacturing workers
• Positive Sentiment: Market sentiment and upgrades: Zacks and other outlets highlight positive analyst momentum (Zacks Rank upgrade and positive writeups), which supports buying interest today. What Makes Alphabet (GOOGL) a New Buy Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst price‑target moves are mixed: several firms reaffirm or trim targets (Citizens/JMP reaffirmed outperform at $385; Stifel trimmed its target slightly but stayed Buy; Wolfe cut to $360, while some outlets show higher targets), leaving a range of expectations for future upside. Stifel adjusts price target on Alphabet Price Target Raised to $420
• Neutral Sentiment: Startups and ecosystem activity (e.g., Primepoint’s $10M seed round led by AI veterans) show continued AI ecosystem growth but have indirect impact on Alphabet’s near‑term fundamentals. Primepoint closes $10M seed round
• Neutral Sentiment: Long‑term technology pivots (quantum computing coverage) are discussed as multi‑year catalysts; these are strategic positives but unlikely to move near‑term earnings. Quantum Computing Stocks: Is Google’s Tech Roadmap Changing?
• Negative Sentiment: Ad‑revenue competition: eMarketer/WSJ reports project Meta overtaking Google as the top global digital‑ad revenue company by end‑2026, a key long‑term risk for Google’s core search/ad margin profile. Meta poised to surpass Google in digital ad revenue for first time

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Symmetry Partners LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,476,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Members Trust Co boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,014,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,489,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Insight 2811 Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Insight 2811 Inc. now owns 3,124 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, LJI Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,265 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,274,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $306.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $299.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.73, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.12.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.24 billion. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

About Alphabet

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.