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

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) was upgraded by DZ Bank to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

GOOG has been the subject of a number of other reports. DA Davidson set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on Alphabet from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $343.90.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0%

Alphabet stock opened at $302.82 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $321.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $277.73. Alphabet has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $350.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $113.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.24 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 35.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.15 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.30, for a total transaction of $10,637,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,211,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $723,945,705.60. This represents a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,829 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.89, for a total value of $5,614,173.81. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,531,453.08. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 2,032,408 shares of company stock worth $94,926,707 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 100.0% in the second quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google I/O set for May 19–20; company is widely expected to unveil its first smart AI glasses later in 2026 — a new hardware/AI catalyst that could expand monetization and ecosystem stickiness. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud momentum remains a growth engine — recent reports highlight ~48% cloud revenue growth and expanding backlog, supporting upside to long‑term revenue and enterprise AI demand. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional buyers also showed conviction — Royal Bank of Canada added materially (~21% increase) to its GOOGL position in recent 13F filings. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Waymo faced congressional scrutiny over remote assistance but defended its practices and said remote agents haven’t been used to move robotaxis on public roads — regulatory risk remains watchable but not immediate earnings pressure. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Some analysts and outlets are cautious/neutral on near‑term upside (Monness and others maintain neutral views), reflecting profit‑taking after a strong run. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple high‑profile investors trimmed GOOGL in recent 13F filings — notable reductions include Ameriprise, First Pacific Advisors, Northern Trust and Veritas, signaling institutional rebalancing that can add selling pressure. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: High‑profile managers also signaled reduced exposure — Bill Ackman trimmed his Alphabet position and Terry Smith reportedly cut his stake roughly in half, a negative sentiment signal for momentum investors. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: MarketBeat and other commentary point to short‑term selling tied to expected heavy CapEx (AI compute & data center buildout) and broader software/tech rotation — investors are treating higher capex guidance as a near‑term earnings/valuation headwind despite long‑term upside. Read More.

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.