Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Up 4.8% – Still a Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price traded up 4.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $354.35 and last traded at $353.65. 33,496,061 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 2% from the average session volume of 32,996,105 shares. The stock had previously closed at $337.39.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet officially joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average, replacing Verizon, which is seen as a milestone that boosts visibility and institutional demand. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Several market commentary pieces note the stock is bouncing from its recent pullback, with analysts and investors framing the selloff as a buying opportunity in large-cap tech. CNBC article
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating on Alphabet with a $445 price target, signaling continued upside potential despite recent weakness. Yahoo Finance article
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google Cloud and AI efforts continue to draw attention, including a new partnership with the Philippine government to deploy AI agents in public services, underscoring ongoing AI monetization opportunities. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Other articles highlight continued AI demand, but also note Alphabet’s compute constraints and competitive pressure, including reports that Meta’s access to Gemini capacity was limited. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Despite today’s rebound, Alphabet has been under pressure recently, with investors worried about heavier AI spending, talent losses, and a weak June performance versus other megacap peers. Motley Fool article

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. New Street Research upped their target price on Alphabet from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $435.00 price objective (up from $427.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Dbs Bank lifted their target price on Alphabet from $400.00 to $460.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Phillip Securities upped their target price on Alphabet from $340.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $390.00 price target (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.13.

Alphabet Trading Up 4.8%

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $368.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $333.02. The firm has a market cap of $4.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 37.92% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.71%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total value of $2,077,531.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total transaction of $38,862.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,132,701. This trade represents a 0.54% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 151,523 shares of company stock valued at $4,863,526. Insiders own 11.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. WealthPoint Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 19.5% in the first quarter. WealthPoint Financial LLC now owns 3,007 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $865,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC now owns 14,566 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,189,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. AMS Capital Ltda raised its holdings in Alphabet by 781.1% in the 1st quarter. AMS Capital Ltda now owns 111,474 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $32,670,000 after acquiring an additional 98,823 shares during the last quarter. Steelhead Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $538,000. Finally, S&A Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $584,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.