Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Price Up 2.3% on Analyst Upgrade

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price was up 2.3% on Monday after Phillip Securities upgraded the stock from a moderate buy rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $330.10 and last traded at $326.57. Approximately 21,334,514 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 1% from the average session volume of 21,566,814 shares. The stock had previously closed at $319.09.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $420.00 price target (down from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “buy” rating and issued a $475.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 price objective (up from $405.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $410.09.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.28, for a total value 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 represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,345,358.56. This represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 285,049 shares of company stock worth $10,051,351. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong quarterly operating performance supports the shares. Alphabet reported 24.2% year-over-year revenue growth to $119.8 billion, while Google Cloud revenue surged 82% to $24.8 billion and its operating income more than tripled. Search revenue also grew 17%, easing concerns that AI features are cannibalizing the core business. Alphabet quarterly growth
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street remains broadly constructive. Analysts continue to maintain Buy-oriented ratings and price targets well above the current trading range. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to “strong buy,” while Erste Group raised its FY2027 EPS forecast. Asset Management One also added roughly 117,000 GOOGL shares in its latest reported portfolio update.
• Positive Sentiment: AI demand is producing tangible business momentum. Alphabet’s Cloud backlog reached approximately $514 billion, suggesting substantial contracted demand for its infrastructure and AI services. A reported Verizon connectivity agreement for AI data centers provides another indication that customers are investing alongside Alphabet.
• Neutral Sentiment: Google DeepMind is reshuffling its research organization. The reported disbanding of the team behind AlphaFold reflects a strategic shift toward new AI priorities. The move could improve commercialization and resource allocation, but it also creates execution and talent-retention uncertainty. Google DeepMind reshuffle
• Negative Sentiment: AI capital spending remains the key overhang. Alphabet raised 2026 capital-expenditure guidance to $195 billion–$205 billion. Quarterly free cash flow turned negative as spending reached $44.9 billion, prompting concerns that AI returns may take too long to offset infrastructure costs. Reported EPS was also boosted by roughly $99 billion in unrealized investment gains, making underlying profitability less exceptional than the headline figure suggests.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and competitive risks are increasing. European rivals may seek up to $10 billion in damages following a $1 billion Digital Markets Act fine. Separately, DoorDash’s FAA-certified in-house drone program could reduce reliance on Alphabet’s Wing as a delivery partner, though Wing may continue serving DoorDash in other markets. Google European damages claims

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management now owns 275,943 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $86,596,000 after buying an additional 2,850 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 60,739 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,060,000 after acquiring an additional 4,239 shares during the last quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 340,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $106,936,000 after acquiring an additional 3,378 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 45,014 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,125,000 after acquiring an additional 4,848 shares during the period. Finally, Robinhood Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $20,337,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.5%

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $358.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $337.68. The firm has a market cap of $4.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a current ratio of 2.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $119.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.53 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 54.77% and a return on equity of 51.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 19.79 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 4.42%.

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.