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

Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the forty-one analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation, twenty-eight have given a buy recommendation and nine have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $343.90.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. KeyCorp set a $370.00 price target on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, February 5th.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet closed its largest-ever acquisition, buying cybersecurity firm Wiz for $32 billion — a big strategic push to bolster Google Cloud’s security offering and cross‑sell to existing cloud customers. Google completes $32B acquisition of Wiz
• Positive Sentiment: GFiber (Google Fiber) is combining with Stonepeak’s Astound Broadband; Alphabet takes a minority stake while Stonepeak becomes majority owner — a capital‑efficient move that trims ongoing fiber capex and creates a scaled independent broadband operator. Google sells partial stake in fiber business
• Positive Sentiment: Product and commercial momentum: Google rolled Gemini Embedding 2 into Workspace apps and logged new AI deals (e.g., Canal+), which support monetization of AI features across cloud, ads and productivity suites. Gemini AI powers Workspace automation Canal+ taps Google’s AI
• Positive Sentiment: Expanded government engagement — Google is deploying Gemini AI agents on the Pentagon portal for administrative automation, reinforcing large‑scale enterprise/government adoption of its AI stack. Google deepens Pentagon AI push
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical/flow context: MarketBeat highlights the stock finding support near ~$300 and strong institutional inflows — a neutral-to-supportive backdrop for longer-term holders. Alphabet’s Pullback May Be Opening a New Entry Point
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data in recent feeds appears inconsistent/corrupted (zeros/NaNs) — no clear signal from shorts today.
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive and valuation caution: analysts and commentary note rising competition in AI (OpenAI, Microsoft/Anthropic) and argue the stock may still be vulnerable after the recent pullback — tempering upside despite strategic wins. Google’s AI Dominance Is Being Tested
• Negative Sentiment: Market cautiousness: commentary urging that “it’s too early to buy the dip” reflects investor wariness that could limit strong near‑term rallies. It’s Too Early To Buy the Dip in GOOG Stock

Alphabet Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $308.42 on Thursday. Alphabet has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $350.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $319.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $289.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $113.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.01% and a net margin of 32.81%.Alphabet’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.15 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 47,574 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $14,341,182.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 13,227 shares in the company, valued at $3,987,279.15. This represents a 78.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.73, for a total transaction of $184,038.00. Following the sale, the director owned 20,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,325,999.52. This trade represents a 2.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,112,493 shares of company stock valued at $118,605,094. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.