Wolfe Research Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price target upped by research analysts at Wolfe Research from $380.00 to $390.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,MarketScreener reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Wolfe Research’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 18.00% from the stock’s previous close.

GOOGL has been the subject of several other research reports. Mizuho set a $365.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. CIBC boosted their target price on Alphabet to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price objective (up from $330.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-two have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $331.40.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $330.52 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $314.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $258.45. Alphabet has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $340.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market cap of $3.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.60, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total value of $5,614,173.81. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,972 shares in the company, 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, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.48, for a total value of $9,213,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,337,119 shares in the company, valued at $662,526,494.12. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 189,909 shares of company stock worth $57,927,282. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $31,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.4% during the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 142.9% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 170 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst upgrades and big price-target raises have driven buying interest — Raymond James upgraded GOOGL to a “strong-buy” and boosted its target (coverage noted by market outlets), while other firms (Wedbush, Deutsche Bank, Robert W. Baird) have also lifted targets, signaling stronger upside expectations and reinforcing momentum. Alphabet Stock Rises — Raymond James Hikes Price Target to $400
• Positive Sentiment: Street coverage and bullish features (Barrons/Forbes/Fool-type coverage) are highlighting Alphabet’s AI moat, Google Cloud strength and partnership wins — these narratives are supporting a re-rating and greater investor willingness to pay for growth. Wall Street sets Google stock price for next 12 months
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo expanded its robotaxi service to Miami, showing continued progress in Alphabet’s autonomous-driving/business-development roadmap — a long-term optionality positive for valuation if commercialization scales. Waymo launches robotaxi service in Miami, extending U.S. lead
• Positive Sentiment: Morning-trade reaction: outlets noted the stock trading higher after upgrades (suggests immediate market impact from analyst actions). Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading 2% Higher on Analyst Upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: Technicals/valuation: market commentary (MarketBeat and others) says the recent pullback is consolidation after a large run; fundamentals remain strong but valuation (mid-30s P/E) means investors may prefer waiting for a deeper retracement (~$300) for a better risk/reward.
• Negative Sentiment: A federal judge allowed a consumer antitrust lawsuit over Google search to proceed — this keeps regulatory/legal risk on the table and could pressure sentiment if litigation advances or leads to remedies that affect the search/ad model. Judge Orders Google to Face Consumer Antitrust Lawsuit Over Search

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.