Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target Raised to $405.00 at Arete Research

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its target price upped by analysts at Arete Research from $380.00 to $405.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Arete Research’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 27.37% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on GOOGL. Wells Fargo & Company set a $354.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $385.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $395.00 target price (up previously from $365.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $361.64.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $317.97 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $321.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $273.11. Alphabet has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $349.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.25. The business 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.52, for a total value of $202,512.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 21,224 shares in the company, valued at $7,163,524.48. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $34,680.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,224,380. This represents a 0.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,067,686 shares of company stock valued at $105,352,291. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Moment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.3% in the second quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 5,896 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,039,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 64,262 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,325,000 after purchasing an additional 2,467 shares in the last quarter. Brooktree Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $352,000. Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,277,000 after purchasing an additional 7,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,028 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,415,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: EU antitrust authorities unconditionally approved Google’s $32 billion acquisition of cybersecurity firm Wiz, removing a major regulatory overhang on one of Alphabet’s biggest deals. Google secures EU antitrust approval for $32 billion Wiz acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised price targets (e.g., Daiwa to $380, President Capital to $375) citing Alphabet’s AI/cloud momentum, which supports upside expectations. Daiwa raises price target on Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan reiterated a Buy on Alphabet, reinforcing institutional support amid the AI investment narrative. JPMorgan Chase & Co. Reiterates Buy Rating for Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo announced fully autonomous operations in Nashville, signaling progress in commercializing autonomous-vehicle investments and potential long-term revenue streams. Waymo goes fully autonomous in Nashville
• Positive Sentiment: Humanoid-robotics startup Apptronik raised $520M with backing from Google and Mercedes-Benz — Google’s participation highlights continued corporate investment in robotics and AI adjacencies. Humanoid startup Apptronik raises $520 million with backing Google and Mercedes-Benz
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud is showing strong AI-driven revenue and operating income gains (Cloud revenue +48% YoY; operating income ~$5.3B), supporting the thesis that cloud/AI demand is translating to profits. Google Cloud Is Turning AI Demand Into Profits
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s large bond sales (raising >$30B and including ultra‑long maturities up to 100 years) are financing AI infrastructure buildout — this secures funding but increases long-duration liabilities and investor focus on capital allocation. Alphabet set to raise over $30 billion in global debt sale
• Neutral Sentiment: Wedbush highlights a multi‑hundred‑billion AI capex cycle ($650B in 2026), underscoring structural tailwinds for hyperscalers like Alphabet but also signaling near-term margin pressure from heavy capex. Microsoft and Google face $650bn AI spending test
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest data is effectively negligible/unchanged, offering little near-term technical pressure or signal. (Data release noted 0 shares.)
• Negative Sentiment: The European Publishers Council filed an EU complaint about Google’s AI Overviews, adding regulatory/legal risk around content and ad models. European Publishers Council files EU antitrust complaint
• Negative Sentiment: A report says Google provided a student-journalist’s personal and financial data to ICE in response to a subpoena, raising privacy and reputational/legal concerns. Google sent personal and financial information of student journalist to ICE
• Negative Sentiment: Autodesk sued Google alleging trademark infringement over AI video tools; this adds litigation risk as Alphabet expands AI product offerings. Google sued by Autodesk over AI-powered movie-making software
• Negative Sentiment: Prominent investor Michael Burry criticized Alphabet’s issuance of century‑long debt, framing it as a signal of overreach — a high‑profile bearish narrative that can amplify skepticism. Michael Burry issues dire forecast for Google stock

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.