Phillip Securities Downgrades Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) to Moderate Buy

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) was downgraded by investment analysts at Phillip Securities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. KeyCorp set a $370.00 price target on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Raymond James Financial raised Alphabet from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $315.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Needham & Company LLC set a $400.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $346.03.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of GOOG opened at $332.77 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $148.40 and a 12 month high of $350.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $305.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $300.84. The firm has a market cap of $4.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.78, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.13.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.15 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Alphabet will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total transaction of $284,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,955,564. This trade represents a 8.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder 2017 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 1,845,308 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $35,060,852.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 2,068,744 shares of company stock valued at $104,505,914 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ring Mountain Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. now owns 1,589 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. HRC Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. HRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Certior Financial Group LLC now owns 919 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC now owns 4,124 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during 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 is in talks with the U.S. Department of Defense to allow its Gemini models in classified systems — a potential large, high‑margin enterprise/government revenue stream and a validation of Gemini for sensitive use cases. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: NiSource signed a long‑term power supply deal to support an Alphabet data center in Indiana — reduces energy execution risk for hyperscale operations and supports capacity buildout. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying: SG Americas disclosed a large addition of GOOGL shares in its 13F — signals demand from a major broker‑dealer fund and supports momentum. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness and price target increases continue (Citi, Mizuho and others) and new partnerships (Thoma Bravo, Cadence) highlight enterprise and cloud AI growth potential. These stories are supporting upside expectations. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Product momentum: Google rolled out personalized image generation tied to Gemini/Nano Banana — enhances consumer AI engagement but monetization path is longer term. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is planning higher AI capex in 2026 — signals commitment to long‑term edge in AI but implies near‑term cash outflows and margin pressure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulator proposed rules forcing Google to share search data (rankings, queries, clicks) with rivals under the Digital Markets Act — a material regulatory risk that could weaken competitive advantages in search and ads. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing legal and ad‑platform scrutiny (app‑store lawsuits, advertiser arbitration) and visible insider selling remain background risks that could weigh on sentiment despite strong fundamentals. Article Title

About Alphabet

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.