Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after New Street Research raised their price target on the stock from $380.00 to $450.00. New Street Research currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $387.38 and last traded at $383.1150, with a volume of 4147016 shares. The stock had previously closed at $385.69.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $385.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $400.46.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.92, for a total transaction of $9,877,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,818,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $856,605,814.08. This trade represents a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total transaction of $284,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,918 shares in the company, valued at $2,955,564. The trade was a 8.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 191,053 shares of company stock valued at $58,845,206 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst boost — Citizens analyst Andrew Boone raised his price target on Alphabet from $385 to $515 and kept an Outperform rating, signaling stronger upside expectations. Analysts revise Google stock price target
• Positive Sentiment: Historic April driven by cloud and AI — Zacks reports Alphabet logged its best month since 2004 on cloud and AI strength, drawing ETF flows that spotlight the company’s growth story. How Alphabet Clocked a Historic April: ETFs in Focus
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo funding surge — Heavy VC activity in AVs this year funneled the largest share to Waymo, which raised $16B in February, supporting long-term optionality for Alphabet’s autonomous-vehicle play. Big money is betting the self-driving future belongs to a small club
• Positive Sentiment: Strong cloud metrics — Analysis highlights Google Cloud’s 63% YoY growth in Q1 and a backlog near $460B, underscoring durable revenue acceleration and enterprise demand. Alphabet Is Outgrowing Amazon and Microsoft Where It Matters Most — Why This Makes Alphabet Stock a Buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Bullish write-ups and buy-case summaries are circulating, adding retail/institutional interest but largely restating the same growth thesis. Is Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) A Good Stock To Buy Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector positioning notes: communication-services ETFs are highly concentrated in the top names, which can amplify GOOGL moves but also increases sector risk. Concentration Risk High as Top Two Stocks Steer U.S. Communication Services ETF Performance
• Negative Sentiment: Capex and leverage caution — Zacks also flags rising capex and debt levels tied to AI infrastructure, which could weigh on margins or investor sentiment despite revenue strength. How Alphabet Clocked a Historic April: ETFs in Focus
• Negative Sentiment: Data-center constraints — Denmark’s pause on new grid connections highlights broader energy and permitting risks for large-scale data-center expansion, a potential headwind for cloud growth plans. Denmark faces data center reckoning as power grid overwhelmed by surging demand
• Negative Sentiment: Corporate/headline risks — Industry layoff debates and a small director sell ($37,842) add governance and sentiment noise; these items can temper an otherwise bullish momentum trade. Is Big Tech’s $725B AI splurge being funded by mass layoffs? Alphabet Director Sells $37,842.00 in Stock

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vantage Point Financial LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 45.5% during the first quarter. Vantage Point Financial LLC now owns 6,714 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,931,000 after buying an additional 2,101 shares during the last quarter. Uptick Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 4.2% during the first quarter. Uptick Partners LLC now owns 14,538 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,180,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $25,085,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in Alphabet by 5.2% during the first quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 841,228 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $241,904,000 after buying an additional 41,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triglav Investments D.O.O. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.1% during the first quarter. Triglav Investments D.O.O. now owns 229,671 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $66,043,000 after buying an additional 4,648 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average is $313.72 and its 200-day moving average is $308.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The firm has a market cap of $4.64 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 6.41%.

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.