Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Price Up 1.2% – Time to Buy?

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s share price traded up 1.2% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $346.20 and last traded at $344.82. 20,695,347 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 31,751,438 shares. The stock had previously closed at $340.67.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt upgraded Alphabet to “strong buy” and reiterated a $410 price target, implying substantial upside and reinforcing the bullish view following Alphabet’s strong earnings report. Alphabet upgraded by Rosenblatt Securities
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s AI spending continues to attract major customers and suppliers. Marvell’s custom-chip agreement includes a warrant structure that would require up to $120 billion of cumulative purchases from Google for full vesting, signaling the potentially enormous scale of Alphabet’s TPU and AI infrastructure buildout. Google’s Marvell warrant
• Positive Sentiment: Waymo received approval to operate up to thousands of commercial robotaxis in Nevada and opened its lower-cost next-generation vehicle to riders in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco. Lower production and operating costs could improve the long-term economics of Alphabet’s autonomous-driving unit. Waymo Nevada robotaxi approval
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s earnings momentum remains a support for the stock. The company recently exceeded consensus estimates for both adjusted earnings and revenue, while analysts and prominent investors—including Berkshire Hathaway—continue to highlight Alphabet’s AI positioning and valuation.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. KeyCorp raised their target price on Alphabet from $425.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Alphabet from $400.00 to $379.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $410.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $420.19.

Alphabet Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s fifty day moving average is $352.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $341.37.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $6.22. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%.The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.07 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.20, for a total transaction of $149,606.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 27,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,125,015.20. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 118,138 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.90, for a total transaction of $2,232,808.20. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 451,945 shares of company stock valued at $12,382,714 over the last three months. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 887,209 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $277,696,000 after purchasing an additional 93,293 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 89,299 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $25,679,000 after purchasing an additional 2,269 shares during the period. Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $28,902,000. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co grew its position in Alphabet by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co now owns 118,966 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,236,000 after buying an additional 17,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLCM Advisors Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 66.1% in the 4th quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 22,877 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,161,000 after buying an additional 9,105 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.