Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Receives $413.54 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifty-five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $413.7290.

GOOGL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $430.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Arete Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $405.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $370.92 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.29, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. Alphabet has a 1 year low of $180.48 and a 1 year high of $408.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $370.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $337.62.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The company had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $106.98 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.71%.

More Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Warren Buffett said he initiated Berkshire Hathaway’s Alphabet investment, a high-profile endorsement that is helping sentiment around Alphabet (GOOGL). Warren Buffett tells CNBC he initiated Berkshire Hathaway’s investment in Alphabet
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst previews say Alphabet’s AI momentum, cloud backlog, and earnings growth expectations could support another strong quarter, keeping investors upbeat ahead of results. Alphabet’s AI Spending Question Looms Over Q2 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Alphabet to strong-buy, citing earnings growth expectations and attractive fundamentals relative to its valuation. Zacks upgrade to strong-buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet expanded its clean-energy commitments with its largest solar and battery storage purchase yet, which supports its long-term infrastructure strategy but is not an immediate earnings driver. Google’s biggest clean power project is 40 miles north of xAI’s unpermitted gas power plant
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also drew attention for a new collaboration with INVIDI Technologies to extend addressable advertising to set-top boxes, a potentially helpful ad-tech expansion but still early-stage. INVIDI Technologies Collaborates with Google to Integrate Google Ad Manager
• Negative Sentiment: The European Commission is preparing new fines against Google, renewing regulatory risk and adding pressure to Alphabet’s legal overhang. EU Prepares to Fine Google as Part of Increased Big Tech Enforcement
• Negative Sentiment: Google is also fighting antitrust scrutiny in Europe and Switzerland, including efforts to preserve a court ruling that overturned a $1.7 billion EU fine and a new Swiss probe over Android search defaults. Google urges EU top court to back ruling scrapping $1.7 billion antitrust fine
• Negative Sentiment: Separate reports raised concerns about Google’s AI search tools and a DeepMind researcher’s resignation over the company’s Pentagon work, both of which could add reputational risk. A DeepMind researcher resigned over its AI military deal

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $545,941.03. This represents a 41.49% 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, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the sale, the insider owned 75,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279 over the last ninety days. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Community Trust NA lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 18,694 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,681,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. Walker Asset Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 1.1% during the second quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Lee Kelleher & Klein Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $302,000. Buska Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 5.7% during the second quarter. Buska Wealth Management LLC now owns 875 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hyperion Asset Management Ltd raised its position in Alphabet by 11.5% in the second quarter. Hyperion Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,380,352 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $493,296,000 after acquiring an additional 142,163 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s 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.