Erste Group Bank Increases Earnings Estimates for Alphabet

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) – Research analysts at Erste Group Bank lifted their FY2027 earnings estimates for Alphabet in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, May 5th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now expects that the information services provider will post earnings per share of $14.32 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $13.50. The consensus estimate for Alphabet’s current full-year earnings is $14.01 per share.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion.

GOOGL has been the subject of several other research reports. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on Alphabet from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research lowered their target price on Alphabet from $390.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $380.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $395.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $406.71.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $398.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.26. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $152.20 and a 12-month high of $400.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $318.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $311.72.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.65, for a total value of $348,232.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,187,638.65. This represents a 22.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.00, for a total transaction of $284,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,918 shares in the company, valued at $2,955,564. This represents a 8.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 158,553 shares of company stock worth $47,951,856. Insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,534,239,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,338,397,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 855.3% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 14,525,280 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,546,413,000 after acquiring an additional 13,004,828 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,910,542,000 after buying an additional 11,605,785 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Surging demand for AI names is funneling money into funds that hold Google, boosting investor appetite for GOOGL as a core AI platform and infrastructure play. Google, Broadcom Drive Delirious Demand. So Do 16 More Stocks.
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group raised its FY2027 EPS forecast for Alphabet to $14.32 (from $13.50), above consensus — a sign analysts expect continued margin and profit strength that supports higher valuations. Erste Group raises FY2027 EPS estimate for Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: Several street moves have lifted price targets (examples include Mizuho and other shops raising targets into the $435–$465 range), reinforcing bullish analyst sentiment after the Q1 beat. Upgrades/target lifts can attract momentum buyers. Alphabet Given New $460.00 Price Target at Mizuho
• Positive Sentiment: New product monetization news — Google rebrands Fitbit as Google Health, launches a $9.99/mo AI health coach and the Fitbit Air wearable — which can expand recurring revenue and showcase Google’s AI consumer offerings. Google’s $9.99-per-month AI health coach launches May 19
• Neutral Sentiment: Competition in “agentic” AI is heating up (Meta, Google and others racing to ship AI agents). This underscores long‑term opportunity but also increases capex/R&D and competitive uncertainty. The Tech Download: Meta, Google enter AI agent race as ‘agentic wars’ heat up
• Neutral Sentiment: Speculative machine‑learning price predictions and upbeat Wall Street writeups reinforce momentum narratives but are not fundamental drivers — treat them as sentiment amplifiers, not hard guidance. Machine learning algorithm predicts Google stock price on May 31, 2026
• Negative Sentiment: European Commission says Google gets extra time to address concerns in an EU investigation after an earlier proposal fell short — regulatory process could still result in remedies or fines, creating legal and operational risk. Google has bit more time to address concerns in EU investigation
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh UK legal actions: a high‑value £3bn collective claim and a separate lawsuit over display ads increase litigation risk and potential damages or restrictions in a key market. These suits are material tail risks that can cap valuation multiples. Google facing £3bn legal claim accusing it of monopolising display ads market

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.