Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Trading Up 1.9% – Time to Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price rose 1.9% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $332.73 and last traded at $328.38. Approximately 22,562,068 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 5% from the average daily volume of 21,516,910 shares. The stock had previously closed at $322.16.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: RBC raised its price target, citing AI-driven strength in advertising revenue — a direct fundamental bullish signal for GOOG shares. RBC Raises Alphabet Target
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street momentum: recent analyst upgrades and higher targets (median targets in the low‑to‑mid $300s, new $345 forecast) are supporting buying pressure. Quiver Quant Analyst Forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Commercial traction for Gemini: reports of a surge in sales of Google’s Gemini AI models signal growing monetization opportunities for cloud/AI services and ad/product integrations. Google Sees Surge in Gemini Sales
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional validation (including Berkshire Hathaway’s investment referenced by coverage) and Q4/AI commentary have bolstered investor confidence that Alphabet is a primary AI beneficiary. Seeking Alpha: Q4 & AI Momentum
• Neutral Sentiment: Operational focus on AI content moderation: YouTube management says “managing AI slop” is a priority—important for product trust but more of an operational note than an immediate revenue driver. CNBC: YouTube on Managing AI Content
• Neutral Sentiment: Market headlines/earnings cadence: analysts and traders are watching macro and upcoming earnings/newsflow for further direction — headlines can swing sentiment intraday. FXEmpire: Tech Stocks Await Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Google‑backed Isomorphic Labs pushed back its clinical trial timeline, a setback for Alphabet’s longer‑term biotech/AI drug‑discovery thesis (lower near‑term visibility for that initiative). Reuters: Isomorphic Labs Delay
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and geopolitical/tariff headlines are lingering sentiment drags—Quiver data highlights extensive insider sales and broader trade/ tariff chatter has pressured big‑tech multiples. Quiver: Insider Activity & Analyst Data

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GOOG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 1st. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Alphabet from $260.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $321.97.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.9%

The stock has a market cap of $3.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $313.45 and its 200 day moving average is $258.16.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.26, for a total transaction of $800,786.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 11,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,383,884.14. This represents a 19.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.50, for a total value of $10,383,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,272,119 shares in the company, valued at $725,942,020.50. This represents a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 192,687 shares of company stock worth $58,728,068 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Robbins Farley raised its holdings in Alphabet by 60.0% during the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 58.7% during the second quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 121.3% in the second quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

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.