Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Raised to Strong-Buy at DZ Bank

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) was upgraded by stock analysts at DZ Bank to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 price objective (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $445.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $379.00 price target (down from $400.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $430.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $410.09.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of GOOG opened at $319.09 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $360.63 and its 200 day moving average is $337.38. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 16.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $188.70 and a 12-month high of $404.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $6.24. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 14.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total transaction of $39,343.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,833 shares in the company, valued at $6,615,656.24. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total transaction of $153,432.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,345,358.56. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 421,013,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $132,114,125,000 after purchasing an additional 8,128,234 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 187,102,863 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $58,712,878,000 after buying an additional 953,790 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its holdings in Alphabet by 38,409.2% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 179,836,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,643,262,000 after acquiring an additional 179,369,280 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 28,482.8% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 112,091,870 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,174,429,000 after purchasing an additional 111,699,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,602,893 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,569,189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073,151 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet posted a strong Q2 beat, with revenue and EPS coming in ahead of expectations, while Google Cloud revenue surged 82% and cloud margins improved sharply.
• Positive Sentiment: AI and product demand remain strong, with management saying AI usage is rising across Search, Cloud, and Gemini, supporting the long-term growth story.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts reiterated bullish views or raised targets, and multiple commentary pieces argued the stock looks attractive after the pullback.
• Positive Sentiment: Verizon signed a deal worth more than $1 billion with Google for dark fiber connectivity, adding another sign of infrastructure demand tied to Alphabet’s data-center buildout. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo is reportedly considering ending its Uber partnership, which could affect how quickly Alphabet’s robotaxi business scales, but the direct financial impact is still unclear. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet also disclosed a large SpaceX stake and saw some institutional holders trim positions, but these items are secondary to the main debate over AI spending and cash flow.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors were unnerved by Alphabet’s higher CapEx guidance and negative free cash flow, which raised concerns that AI spending may be outpacing near-term returns.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet was also hit by an EU antitrust fine of about $1 billion, adding another regulatory overhang. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Moody’s warned that the industry-wide AI buildout could threaten credit quality at Alphabet and other hyperscalers, reinforcing concerns about balance-sheet strain from heavy infrastructure investment. Article Title

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a multinational technology holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Formed in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google, Alphabet serves as the parent to Google LLC and a portfolio of businesses collectively known as “Other Bets.” Google was originally founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Alphabet is led by CEO Sundar Pichai, who oversees Google and the broader company while the founders remain prominent shareholders and influential figures in the company’s history.

Alphabet’s core business centers on internet search and advertising, with Google Search and the company’s ad platforms (including Google Ads and AdSense) generating the majority of revenue by connecting advertisers with consumers worldwide.