Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Up 2.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price rose 2.5% during trading on Wednesday after Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on the stock from $330.00 to $390.00. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Alphabet traded as high as $326.47 and last traded at $322.4810. Approximately 24,361,996 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 14% from the average daily volume of 21,318,545 shares. The stock had previously closed at $314.55.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $316.79.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total transaction of $867,569.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,798,832.60. The trade was a 23.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.45, for a total transaction of $31,971.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,205 shares in the company, valued at $5,706,357.25. This represents a 0.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 195,465 shares of company stock valued at $57,056,497. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major price-target lift and buy rating: Canaccord Genuity raised its GOOG target to $390 and maintained a Buy, giving analysts’ sentiment a visible boost and signaling upside expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Market-cap milestone draws attention: Alphabet briefly surpassed Apple to become the second-largest U.S. company by market cap, which often attracts flows from index/rebalance and momentum traders. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher consensus targets: Multiple firms have upgraded or raised targets in recent weeks and MarketBeat documents sizable bullish revisions and a higher consensus price-target range, supporting further upside. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional accumulation: QuiverQuant data shows big additions by firms (e.g., UBS AM, Berkshire Hathaway), indicating durable demand from long-term holders. Institutional buying helps underpin the rally. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Partner momentum for Gemini: Samsung’s commitment to expand Gemini-backed Galaxy AI features increases distribution and use cases for Alphabet’s AI stack, a revenue/engagement positive over time. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Competitive moves to watch: Spotify disclosed plans to heavily invest in creator/video tools to challenge YouTube — a competitive long-term threat but not an immediate earnings shock. Monitor ad share trends and engagement metrics. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/brand risk: WSJ reports Alphabet (via ties to Character.AI) will settle lawsuits over teen suicides tied to virtual companions — a reputational and regulatory risk that can invite scrutiny and compliance costs for AI products. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy insider selling: QuiverQuant notes substantial insider sales (including CEO Sundar Pichai) over recent months — not uncommon but a near-term negative signal that can temper sentiment. Read More.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 416,753,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $73,927,821,000 after buying an additional 5,182,111 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 188,914,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $33,511,477,000 after acquiring an additional 2,428,266 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 580,897.4% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 135,087,705 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $23,963,208,000 after purchasing an additional 135,064,454 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 107,760,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,022,926,000 after purchasing an additional 441,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,529,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,240,469,000 after purchasing an additional 7,904,434 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The company has a market capitalization of $3.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $304.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $247.26.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.28%.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.